


The Child

by Sakumira_Agashi



Series: Love Me, Love Me Not [1]
Category: Villainous (Cartoon)
Genre: Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Boss/Employee Relationship, F/M, Feels, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Genderbending, Genderswap, Hurt/Comfort, Pregnancy, Romance, Sad and Sweet, Unplanned Pregnancy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-28
Updated: 2020-04-15
Packaged: 2021-02-26 01:07:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 24
Words: 45,695
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21595069
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sakumira_Agashi/pseuds/Sakumira_Agashi
Summary: Sorrowful regrets, they are the results of untold words.Special feelings, they are what Black Hat kept hidden in the deepest reach of his heart, and they aren't just for anyone other than Dr. Fluggie herself. So when the said scientist confessed to him that she was carrying the child of an unknown man, he realized that it was too late.He was too late and had lost his hold on her, letting her run far away and into the arms of a different man.
Relationships: Black Hat & Dr. Flug (Villainous), Black Hat/Dr. Flug (Villainous)
Series: Love Me, Love Me Not [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1556338
Comments: 14
Kudos: 87
Collections: Villainous (Cartoon)





	1. That Night

It was late in the night. The sky was a dark shade of blue and stars were twinkling while the moon was shining brightly down. The entire ground underneath was soaked in the gentle light of the moon while the cool breeze passed by, making the grass and the leaves on the trees rustling a peaceful and pleasant sound. It was such a beautiful sight.

The room that Dr. Fluggie was in was quiet if the gasping and moaning sound wasn't included. She let out a quiet moan as the man towering above her dug his teeth into the flesh of her neck, hard enough to leave a mark there yet soft enough not to make that spot on her neck bleed. He left that spot and continued nibbling on the others.

Gasping out his name, she panted. "Y- you're- AH!"

She gasped out loud when he bit down her collarbone, leaving another mark there. Looking down at her, he smirked at his handy work. Before she could say anything else, he leaned close to her face and kissed her deeply. He nibbled on her lips, begging for entrance and eventually, she opened her mouth and let his tongue in, battling with her own. He was a great kisser, and she didn't want to break their kiss at all. But soon, she had to due to her need of air. She put her hands on his chest and lightly push him off. Thankfully, he got her hint and broke the kiss, leaving a thin trail of saliva connecting their lips together.

Gasping for air, she mumbled his name again. He grinned at her flustered face and held her chin with one hand while the other started to pull down her white lab coat.

"You're mine and no one else's. Just _mine_ only."


	2. His Feelings

It was just another typical night for Black Hat, alone in his usual and favorite place, a popular, expensive and fancy bar in the center of the city far away from his town. He took a sip of his wine, eyeing and taking in all the details of his surroundings.

This place had always been the same ever since he first came to it. Its fancy, elite appearance was the very first thing that caught his interest when he first drove passed by, and it was also what made it stand out to the others places neighboring it. It gave out a very Western and luxurious vibe, which was always one of Black Hat's standards for a good place to go out, but the inside was what made Black Hat stay. The whole place was always spotless clean, so clean that you could see your reflection on the floor and on the glass surface of the tables. The decorations were quite simple, but that was what made it look elegant, along with the gentle music playing quietly in the background. The drinks were astonishingly good and the bartenders were very skilled, so skilled that just watching them make your drinks was satisfying enough.

He let out a sigh. This was a very common place for villains to stop by for a night out, so he occasionally run into his friends or even fans, and they usually had small talks with one another, no matter if he liked them or not. But tonight he was all by himself, and he didn't mind it at all. He could just sit there, occasionally look around at other people and leave at midnight or even later.

As he glanced across the counter, he saw two people sitting very close to each other. They apparently just arrived, and after ordering their drinks, they talked very happily to each other as they held hands tightly. It was clear that they were a couple.

'A couple…'

A thought rung in his head as he soon found his mind drifting to a certain woman, a human woman so close but also so far away from him.

The woman was none other than his own employee, Fluggie Slys.

At the very first moment they met, he felt a connection between them, a very strong connection between him and her, between an eldritch and a human. For many years, he hadn't noticed it, so when he realized it, it was when he also found out that it was too late to back away. He, an infamous villain, had fallen for a human, for a scientist that he hired himself. He had developed feelings for her, which he didn't even know he was capable of doing, and he had given her heart to her without any knowledge of it. Was this what people were talking about when they said that you never knew exactly that you had fallen in love until later?

He and she lived together under the same roof, so Black Hat didn't quite understand how she seemed so distant from him.

Maybe it was because how different they were from each other. She was a normal, while he was a powerful, well-known eldritch. But being a human didn't stop her from being a complete genius and inventing incredible things without any help at all. And she was one of the most hard-working people he had ever known, as he had witnessed with his very own eyes how she could non-stop, days after days just to meet the tight deadlines he gave her, although he was pretty sure that it was unhealthy for humans. Plus, she was, dared he admit it, _adorable._ No one could deny the fact that she was extremely awkward sometimes clumsy, and always a complete mess, which he found annoying at first. But after a while, he unknowingly started to like it as well. Her flustered face and her small stutters, he really couldn't get enough of it.

He gulped down the rest of his wine as he thought further about another reason why she seemed to be so far away from his grasp. Maybe it was because how impossible it was for them to start living together as a couple. He, from the deepest reach of his soul, knew that there was no way she could accept his feelings. Who would want to be with someone who constantly abuse them, yell at them and give them impossible deadlines to work with? No one, he thought. She had silently put up with him so much that a romantic relationship between them was clearly an imagination to him.

'Why am I getting so worked up about this?' He thought as he stared at his empty glass. 'A conclusion is a conclusion. She will never love me, she can never love me, so why am I still thinking, still hoping mindlessly about it?'

He let out another heavy sigh before calling the bartender for another glass of wine.

* * *

Black Hat fluttered his eyes open as the bright sunshine shone through the windows, waking him up. Another beautiful day had once again arrived, and Black Hat tried to get used to the bright light as he slowly pushed himself up. Looking around, he found himself in his bedchamber with his trench coat being placed nicely on the headboard. Sitting on his king-sized bed, he winced a little when his head started to hurt.

Hangover again, he figured.

As he rubbed his head in attempt to ease down the pain, he heard the door being opened and someone entering. As soon as he saw who it was, he almost forgot the fact that he was having a headache.

It was Fluggie standing at the door with a white mug in her hand, stunning as always under the early morning sunshine, even if she was just in her usual T-shirt, lab coat, jeans and sneakers. Upon realizing that he was awake, she looked pretty surprised and unprepared.

"Oh, g- good morning, s- sir!"

He let out a grunt instead of greeting her back. It was part of the pain's doing, but it was mainly because it was one of his ways to cover his feelings. He rarely greeted her, and even when he did, his greetings sounded more like a "whatever". So suddenly wishing her a good day so properly and nicely would immediately alert her, telling her that something was wrong. He didn't understand it. No matter how much he ignored her or how badly he treated her, she always noticed it whenever he acted just a little differently from usual, not to mention that she tried to ask if he was feeling okay with indirect questions so that she could figure out a way to make him feel better.

'That mortal, she's too good for this tasteless, cruel, unfair world' was what he always thought whenever she tried to lighten up his mood.

"Are you feeling okay, sir?" She asked as she awkwardly idled at the door. There she went again, caring for him for no logical reason at all.

"Well, if you exclude the headache, then you can say that I'm fine, pretty much."

The pain hit him again, and he held his head helplessly, not noticing that she was walking toward him with a small tray in her hand, the red scarf around her neck swaying with each step she took-

Wait…

_Scarf?_

"Doctor…" He spoke up as she placed the tray on her bed, fixing the random scarf in question afterward. "What's with that… scarf?"

"O- Oh, this? W- What's wrong with it?" She tugged at that said item nervously. "Um… I thought that it's, uh, normal to wear scarf?"

"It is, but not for you." He pointed out. "You never wear a goddamn scarf unless it's winter, and it's not even August yet!"

She was sweating a lot, just like she always did when she was suddenly questioned. "Um, uh, well… y- you see…" She stuttered as her boss stared at her, as if he was inspecting every movement and word of hers. "I- I h- have a c- cold."

"A cold, you said…" He narrowed his eyes, shooting her a suspicious look, which caused her to get even more anxious than she already was.

"Y- Yes! I'm, cough, having a cold. But it's, cough, will be gone soon, I hope."

"Hmph, pathetic."

He said that with a sigh, but he was internally screaming, asking why she didn't take care of herself well and got sick.

Deciding to ignore the scarf, he glanced or the tray on his bed to see his mug filled with water and a small bowl of sugar.

"What's this for?"

"It's for, cough, for your hangover, sir." She said. "Drinking some water while eating some sugar will help you feel better, sir. Studies show that fructose may speed alcohol metabolism, thus reducing the risk of a hangover. It's important to eat sugar while you're drinking, _not_ before, since fructose metaboliz-"

"Okay okay _okay,_ I get it." He stopped her midway. "You're not helping my headache at all, Fluggie."

"I- I'm sorry, sir Black Hat!" She exclaimed as she bowed down to him in an apologetic manner. "I won't bother you anymore."

He really scared her again, which was what he didn't want to do at all. Ever since discovering his little crush on her, he felt guilty whenever he saw her whimpering in fear right in front of him. But he really had to do it, because he was scared that she might notice his strange behavior and got suspicious. And even if he all knew too well that she would never be brave enough to make him confess what was on his mind, he still couldn't bring himself to expose his feelings like that.

He exhaled heavily, picking up his mug when he something flicked in his mind.

"Wait, how did you know I have a hangover?"

"H- Huh?" Her body jolted upward out of surprise.

"I did not tell you that I drank last night. How did you know that by yourself?"

"You startled me, sir." She let out a sigh. "It's, cough, simple. I was walking to my lab from the kitchen when I heard your voice. And then I saw you there, clearly unable to walk straight and smelled of alcohol. Luckily, your, cough, room was nearby, so I managed to get you to your bed safely."

He was quiet, thinking to himself for a while before speaking up again.

"Alright, thanks." He said, not looking at her. "Remember to not let that cold interrupt your work, alright? We have a video to shoot on Friday."

"Roger, jefecito."


	3. The Discovery

Fluggie let out a sigh of relief as the two parts she was holding fit together nicely. This was her fifth attempt now, and if they hadn't fitted, she would either say "screw it", scream in agony, or sit in one corner worrying to death because the deadline was in two days, and she was only half finished with the prototype.

Leaning against her chair, she glanced at the digital clock on her table to see if it was midnight, and she was correct. It was not uncommon for her to work until morning, so midnight was still a little early for her to stop working. She let out another sigh as she looked at her workbench, as well as across the entire lab. Pieces of metals and tools were scattered across the table surface, and countless coffee mugs were lying carelessly on the floor. She was already tired, and the mess just honestly just made her even more tired, but she at least had managed to complete a huge portion of her work. All the main parts had been finished, so now she just needed to focus on the other little parts and then she was ready to introduce the new machinery with her boss.

As she proceeded to go clean up her mess, she was stopped midway and ran to the bathroom as quick as possible. She was glad she made it in time, or else she would have thrown up on the floor.

This again, she thought.

This had happened too often for it to be just a common illness. She was _sure_ that she hadn't eaten anything weird for her to have a stomachache, or accidentally had anything that could make her body act strangely. For more than a week now, she greatly hoped that Lord Black Hat didn't notice how her mood changed so fast and unusually, one moment she could be all happy and energetic, and just a few seconds later she could be full of stress, mumbling and cursing the world, asking why she was even born in the first place. And she appreciated the fact that her meal schedule was different from her boss, because just the thought of food could make her extremely uncomfortable.

She thought to herself for a while before something in her mind clicked.

It couldn't be _it,_ right?

* * *

"Ey, home already, Fluggie?"

Demencia peaked her head out from the kitchen doorway at the sound of footsteps at the hallway. Fluggie entered the kitchen, putting the bags on the counter as she replied to the lizard girl.

"Yeah, I was just out for some groceries, so it couldn't be that long."

Demencia didn't reply and continued munching on her food instead. Fluggie looked at her and raised an eyebrow. "Sandwich before dinner? Really?"

"Hey, a girl gotta eat when she's hungry." Demencia talked with a mouth full of food.

"But…" Fluggie trailed off. "You just had two bowls of pasta at noon and a full _freaking_ cake when I went out just now."

"So what? Is there a law that forbids me from eating whenever I want? Geez, you're so strict, no fun."

The scientist just rolled her eyes. "This is exactly why we always run out of food sooner than we're supposed to."

As Demencia kept on eating her sandwich, Fluggie quickly searched in the bag for a certain package which was the main reason why she went out. After finding it, she shoved it in her lab coat's pocket as fast as possible, knowing that she would drown in the sea of questions if the lizard girl saw it.

"Oh, hi there sweetie~"

Demencia suddenly changed her tone, and Fluggie jumped, as she knew who the other girl was talking to.

"Don't 'sweetie' me." Black Hat's voice was heard from the hallway. "And please close your mouth when you're eating."

"Awwww, Blacky just said 'please' to me. How cute."

"You're impossible."

Black Hat sighed, deciding not to pay any mind to her as he entered the room, leaning against the doorway as he crossed his arm.

"What's that, doctor?"

He asked, and Fluggie gulped, trying her best to sound natural.

"J- Just some groceries, sir." Fluggie said. "I'll p- prepare dinner right away!"

"No need, I'm not hungry yet." He glanced away as he spoke. "I… just want to check if you're home. N- Not that I care, it's just that when I went to check on your work progress, you were nowhere to be found."

He didn't really need to explain himself that hard, did he? Because she was now giving him that look, the look of suspicion, though she didn't question him.

"O… kay?" She trailed off. "I'll… take my time then."

He looked at her for a while before leaving, not noticing her sigh of relief as she tugged her lab coat at where the package was.

* * *

Black Hat put his pen down and leaned against the chair, sighing. He had been doing paperwork for five hours non-stop, and had managed to finish a large portion of his work. Business had been going well lately like always, and paperwork just kept piling up. And while he didn't get tired easily, seeing stupid stuff really made him mad sometimes, like, every single time he went to check, there would be at least three fan letters that he wouldn't even bother reading. How they got mixed up in the important things was still a mystery, as clingy fans just kept evolving, and they would find every single way to get him to notice them. He wished he could just skim through the papers to avoid getting annoyed, but he couldn't bring himself to, as the letters were always in between the actual important ones, meaning he couldn't afford making a mistake that could make him lose potential customers and business partners.

He glanced at the clock to find that it was already time for his afternoon tea. Thinking that it was a good time to take a break, he got up when he heard Demencia's loud voice downstairs.

"Hey! Heeey! Fluggie, oi, wake up! Heeeeeey! Are you okay?!"

Hearing the mention of his beloved's name, he rushed out of his room, following the direction of where Demencia's voice was coming from. He soon found the lizard girl with a worried 5.0.5 by her side and an unconscious Fluggie on her laps.

"Demencia, what's going on?!"

He ran up to them and knelt down, knitting his eyebrows together as he looked at Fluggie worriedly. She was still breathing, but unsteadily, and she winced in pain.

"I- I dunno!" Demencia stammered. "She and 5.0.5 were cleaning, and I was just talking to them when she suddenly fainted!"

"Quick! Bring her to her room!"

* * *

Fluggie let out a small mumble as her eyes opened slowly, getting used to the bright light. Her whole body felt weird and weak, and she couldn't move until a few moments later. She was trying to look around when someone shouted.

"Hey, you're awake!"

"D… Demencia…?" The lizard girl's name came out so weak and small in her tone. It was the best she could do when her entire body felt like it was strained by an invisible force. "W… Why am I… and you…"

"You're in your room. You were cleaning with 5.0.5 when you suddenly decided to become jelly and fell down, unconscious! Hell, ya scared me, and 5.0.5, and Black!"

"Is... Is that what really..."

"Well, rest assured that Demencia isn't lying, as I can confirm it."

A sudden voice startled Fluggie, making her entire body jolted up as she sat up, glancing around to see her boss standing next to the door.

Somehow, he really made her uncomfortable and scared. His posture seemed relax, as he was leaning against the wall with his arms crossed, but his expression… didn't seem relax at all. He hung his head low and kept that _deadly_ stare on her, and on her only, not Demencia or 5.0.5. He just kept on doing that, and she tried to avert her gaze, gripping her blanket and slightly pulling it upward.

"Demencia, bring 5.0.5 out with you."

"Huh, why?" Demencia cocked her head sideway, raising an eyebrow at him.

"I have something to… _discuss_ with Fluggie."

Her heart sank at his words. What was he implying, and why the heck did he want them out of the room, especially when he was having that intense and scary look?

"Really, Blacky? She just woke up-"

" _Demencia…_ "

Black Hat's voice got even lower than it already was, shutting Demencia up immediately. Deciding that it was best not to argue with him, she gestured and pushed 5.0.5 out, who let out small whimpers as she did.

Now, it was just Fluggie and her boss, and she sweated. There was no way of getting out of this one.

"Um… sir?"

"You're feeling okay now, aren't you?" He asked as he stepped closer before sitting at the chair beside her bed, where Demencia was just at.

"Y- Yes..." Her heart was beating even faster, now that he was literally right next to her. "W- Why are you asking me that, sir?"

"Well… I want to make sure that you're feeling well, because you must be awake enough to answer this question of mine."

He wasn't looking at her, and she gulped.

"W- W- What is i- it, sir?"

"You see…" His eyes were still locked on the floor. "After bringing you to your bed, I noticed that your temperature was a little higher than usual, so I told Demencia to look for your thermometer, and she searched all over your room…

She gulped once more, waiting for him to continue.

"She then eventually came out of the bathroom with something. It looked similar to a thermometer, but it wasn't one, so I told her to go look once more. But before that, I askrd her to give it to me. Do you know why?"

She was too scared to talk, so she just let out a tiny "no".

It was when he finally looked up, staring right into her _soul_ as he slowly pulled out something from under his trench coat. Upon realizing what it was, her heart nearly stopped from the shock and fear. Her body shook violently as she gripped her blanket so hard that her knuckles were turning white.

"Demencia was quite an absolute idiot to have mistaken this for a thermometer. But thanks to that, I'm able to find out what you're trying to hide."

"I- I-"

"And it's even more _interesting_ to see that there are _two_ red stripes clearly visible on it."

The room fell into silence, and Fluggie desperately tried to find a way to escape it, but her effort was all for nothing. It was time she confessed to him, life had decided for her it seemed, and she bit her lips.

"Y- Yes…" She fiddled with her blanket. "That pregnancy test… i- it's mine… and- and…"

He just sat there, waiting patiently in silence.

"The- The result is positive…"

It was possible that the silence would have lasted forever if he hadn't spoken up.

"Unbelievable."

"S- Sir-"

"Absolutely _unbelievable._ " He let out a low, empty chuckle. "To a human, your age is the age of maturity, and plus, only the most brilliant minds can be hired by me. So I thought that by now, you know how _serious_ a pregnancy is."

"S- Sir, I-"

"How funny, to think about it, right?" He chuckled once more, sending chills down her spine. "How funny and pathetic, indeed."

"Lord Black Hat, please!" She cried out as she leaned forward. "I- I know my mistake, and I'll take responsibilities for it! P- Please, I beg you, don't cast me away!"

"Responsibilities? _How?_ "

He threw her a doubtful look, and she flinched slightly.

"I- I…" She stammered. "I'll deal with it without affecting my work!"

He stayed silent, looking like he didn't really believe her. And when both of them were quiet, he decided to do something to break the silence. With a swift move, he stood up from the chair and turned his back to her without any hesitation.

"I expect you to keep your word, Dr. Fluggie Slys."

He left the room before it became too overwhelming for him.


	4. Taking Care

"What's with that outfit?"

Black Hat as he spotted his employee in the hallway, dressed in her usual outfits except for the big top that he had never seen before. She stammered for a second, seemingly finding the right words.

"Oh, um, it's a maternity top. It's, like, a kind of clothing made for pregnant women."

He stared at her for a while before letting out a sigh.

"Whatever, as long as you don't show up with something ridiculous."

She quickly walked pass him to avoid making the situation any more awkward than it already was. Ever since that day, her belly had become noticeably bigger, which was a sign of a baby growing inside her. A baby that was not his.

He still could remember the day when she finally revealed about her pregnancy, he felt like the entire world had fallen down around him, breaking into millions of pieces. He simply couldn't take in the reality, just like when he had realized that he had developed feelings for her. But this time, it was ten times more painful and more cruel. All this time he was thinking about the scenario where he confessed to her, just to receive this news that made him realize that all his pointless thoughts was for nothing at all. And when she was asked how this happened, she simply said that she had a _boyfriend,_ which broke his heart even more. Could you break something that was already broken?

She said that she didn't mention about this "boyfriend" of hers because she thought that it wasn't "work-related" and that he probably wouldn't care anyway. Honestly, he wondered if that was a good thing, the fact that he didn't know about this partner that she had had for this whole time.

"Oh, sir Black Hat!" She asked, snapping him out of his thoughts. "Today, may I-"

"You going to see this obstetrician, or whatever doctor you told me?"

She didn't know what to say or do except nodding her head. She seemed startled by his outburst, and he realized it immediately.

"J- Just go to whenever you have business at. I don't care, as long as you come back in one piece."

He walked away hurriedly, leaving her standing there motionlessly, full of questions.

* * *

It was night before Fluggie noticed it. In front of her was still the familiar sight she had been seeing for years: machinery parts lying literally everywhere on her workbench, a sight which wasn't really pleasing to the eyes. Even with a baby growing inside her, she never stopped working hard, although it was a little more difficult. Every step of hers felt heavy, which made it harder to walk as fast as usual. But she had learned to deal with it long ago.

She was so focus on her work that she didn't notice the door to the lab opening. It wasn't until that person put a tray of food beside her that she noticed their presence.

"Thanks 5.0.5."

"So he's the one who usually brings food for you?"

She was startled when it wasn't the voice of the blue bear that she expected. She looked up to see her boss looking down at her.

"S- Sir Black Hat ?" She asked surprisingly. "W- what are you doing here? It's almost midnight."

"Is it unusual for me to stay up this late?" He asked her back instead of answering her. "I'm not like 5.0.5 or Demencia, I'm busy too, you know."

"I- I know but…"

Ignoring her stuttering voice, he looked over her shoulder to look at the blueprint, eyeing it carefully. "How is this going?"

"It's going… pretty well, sir." She scratched her head. "It's about halfway done."

"Hmm… okay then." He said before remembering something. "Hey, eat your food before it gets cold."

"H- huh?"

"Eat, Fluggie." He eyed her.

"B- but I'm n- not t- that h- hungry, s- sir…"

He stared at her, making her sweat nervously. "When was the last time you ate?"

"Um…" She scratched the back of her neck, trying to remember. "About… four days ago?"

"And when was the last time you slept?"

"About… two days ago, sir." She said, still feeling nervous as he kept his stare on her. "Pregnant women aren't supposed to drink coffee, so… I couldn't stay awake for much long than I used to…"

He let out a sigh. "Eat your meal and go to sleep, doctor."

"B- but what about the deadline this Friday, sir? It's three days away."

"I'll delay it. You're having a baby, so I suppose you need to rest more, right?" He said as he walked toward the door. "I'll come back to check on you later. If I still find you working here with your meal untouched then don't blame me, got it?"

"R- Roger, sir."

"Good."

As his hand was merely inches away from the doorknob, he stopped when he heard Fluggie's voice.

"Sir… Can I ask you a question?"

He stayed silent for a while before replying, not looking back at her.

"Go ahead."

She turned her head back to look at him, after the whole while of being afraid to look at him directly.

"Why are you being so caring to me these days, sir? You seemed pretty… upset when I revealed the news a few months ago."

He stayed silent while still facing the door. He tried to find an answer to give her as she waited for him patiently. There was a long pause before he spoke up again.

"It's like… a food chain." He replied. "You're my employee. If you're not feeling well then you won't be able to work properly. If you're not able to work properly then the products won't be qualified. If the products aren't qualified then no one will buy them. And when that happens, I will become a broke ass with no money. Understand?"

She opened her mouth to ask something more, but decided that the explanation was enough. Besides, he didn't look like he wanted to be asked again.

"Understood, sir."

Without saying anything else, he turned the doorknob and walked outside before closing the door behind him.


	5. Irresponsibilities and Replacement

Time always passed so quickly that Black Hat didn't realize that it had been another four months had went by until now. After all, time never waited anyone, they said.

Black Hat was heading to the lab, his dress shoes clanking on the floor beneath him as he took every step on his way. Fluggie was nine months now and was ready to give birth at any moment, so he had to look after her more closely than he used to. Of course, when that time came, her boyfriend would immediately be there for her just after a very short phone call and take her to the hospital. Black Hat knew that because, well, what kind of boyfriend wouldn't if he was still in a relationship with his girlfriend? However, he would be worried sick if he didn't check on her at least three times a day. He loved her, even when she had had a boyfriend caring for her.

As he reached the lab, he knocked on the door. He wouldn't usually do that, but for the sake of her and her baby, he shouldn't be giving her heart attacks right now. He waited for a few seconds, but got no response from her. He knocked again, but there was still no reply for him once again. Curious, but mostly worried, he quietly opened the door and peaked inside. It was midnight, but it wasn't unusual for her to work at this point of time. In fact, she worked until midnight almost everyday. Expecting to see her facing her back to him, he was kind of surprised too see only the workbench with blueprints and parts of machine lying carelessly all over the room without her sight. He went inside fully and was concerned that his eyes didn't play a trick on him.

"Did she go to sleep?" He asked himself and went outside the lab, closing the door behind him. He then headed to her room to see if his statement was correct.

Once he was in front of her room, he knocked on the door. But like last time, he didn't get any reply. After knocking again without hearing any response from inside, he slowly opened the door. Looking inside, he saw that she was sitting on the floor beside her bed. Her back was facing him and she didn't seem to notice his presence since she was busy putting things into her bag. He cleared his throat to get her attention. Seeming to have finally noticed it, she turned around and gasped.

"B- Boss?"

"What are you doing here, doctor?" He asked. "I thought you are asleep by now, since you aren't in the lab."

"O- Oh, I was there a few minutes ago, sir." She was working on her new invention, which was a pair of glasses that could identify one's information, power and even weaknesses just by wearing it and looking at that person. "I was sketching out the design for the glasses when I suddenly remembered that I had to… do something."

"Something, you said?" He cocked his eyebrow. "Can't you be more specific?"

"I… uh… um…" Thanks to the paper bag, he couldn't the sweat that was rolling down her forehead. She knew she shouldn't have said that, but what could she do more? He clearly could see that she was doing "something".

Taking a glance up at him, she could see that he was standing still while crossing his arms and tapping one finger on his other arm. He was about to yell at her, but he decided against it afterward and waited patiently for her answer.

Managing to calm down a little, she took in a deep breath. "Um… Well, sir, you remember that I'm at the ninth month of pregnancy, right?"

"Yes."

"That m- means I'm about to give birth soon. A few days later, I'm going to the hospital myself and spend time there until I give birth and recover fully. So now I'm packing my stuff during my time there."

"You're going yourself?" He asked out of concern. "Won't your boyfriend drive you there when the time comes?"

There was a long pause between them before she finally spoke up quietly.

"He won't stay with me, sir."

"What do you mean? Is he busy or something?"

Another long silence slipped between them before Fluggie broke it again, voice even quieter.

"He left me…"

Her words struck his mind greatly like a sharp spear.

Not waiting him to tell her to explain further, she said, looking away. "After he found out that I was pregnant with h- his child, he broke up with me, admitting that he got together with me just to get me into bed and saying that raising a kid is annoying. He left me right on that day when I told him the news..."

Black Hat gasped quietly under his breath, still unable to move. Her boyfriend… dared do that to her? First he took his one and only love from him, and now he left her just because she was pregnant with his own child? The demon could feel his blood boiling up just by thinking about that and was ready to kick that man's ass if he ever got a chance to meet him.

He fisted his hand, trying to hold back his anger and tried to say calmly. "He did THAT to you?!"

"D- Don't get mad, b- boss…" She said, voice calm but weak. "I know he indirectly caused you troubles by impregnating me and making me slowing down my working process. You c- can yell at me all you lik-"

"Why would I be mad at you?!" He exclaimed. "I'm angry about that _irresponsible_ man! He dared did that to you, my employee! Hell, I'm ready to bloodily KILL him if I ever see his face-"

He realized that he went a little too far by a rather surprised expression on her face. Giving up on finding something to say, he sighed.

"Get back to your thing, Fluggie…"

"Y- Yes, sir…"

Once again, his hand was merely inches away from the doorknob until he stopped, but this time by himself. He hesitated for a while before saying.

"Fluggie…"

"Yes, sir?"

He paused for a while. "You know what… Fuck that asshole, I'll bring you to the hospital."

"W- What did you say, sir?!"

"Stay until that time comes and I'll replace him to bring you to the hospital."

"B- But sir! I- I can go on my own, r- really!"

"You're afraid that I won't make it on time? Don't worry, I will teleport there." He said firmly.

"B- but-"

"No but, that's an order." He turned the doorknob, opening the door. "You will stay here, no going anywhere."

With that said, he closed the door behind him without letting her ask any further. She sat there in place alone in confusion.


	6. Welcome to the World

It was a fine day at Black Hat Organization. Black Hat was in his office, enjoying his morning tea while reading the newspaper. Normally he would be busy dealing with some paperwork and clients by this time, but today there weren't surprisingly many work that needed to be done so he decided not to rush. Fluggie was in her lab, working on a new invention like usual. 5.0.5, like a good bear he always was, had cleaned up the table after breakfast and was cleaning the kitchen, as well as the other rooms. Demencia was-

Wait, where was Demencia?

* * *

"Haha, poor you." Black Hat chuckled, satisfied as he was reading an article on the newspaper. The heroes had recently trying into break into the villains' places, including his, but failed due to the security system that he sold to his clients a long while ago. "Hell, even a fly wouldn't be able to go through that system."

As he flipped to another pages and took a sip from his cup, a woman with mismatch eyes slowly poked her head out from behind his chair and leaned over his newspaper.

"Hey Black Hat! Whatcha doing?"

Black Hat nearly spitted out his tea.

"The fuck did you come from, Demencia?!" He asked as he gripped the handle of his cup tightly, trying his best to hold it in place.

"Well, the doors weren't locked so I just… slipped in?"

Black Hat looked up at the twin doors. They were indeed not locked and one of them was still slightly creak opened, as a result of Demencia sneaking in. He sighed and returned to his newspaper.

"Don't do that again, got it?"

"Okie dokie!" Demencia said and leaned her face down to the newspaper he was holding. "So… what are you reading?"

"Some news, nothing else." He answered simply, not saying anything further.

"Why aren't you doing work today?"

"There's not much."

"When are you planning on working?"

"Afternoon."

"What if you can't finish them on time?"

He let out a groan. "That won't happen."

She paused for a while, trying to find if there was something else to ask.

"Oh, and Black Hat-"

"Demencia." He cut her off, not looking at her. "I'm trying to enjoy my ONE and ONLY peaceful morning here, so you better stay quiet."

"Hmm…" She rubbed her chin for a while before exclaiming, snapping her fingers. "Oh, I know! Maybe I can help you with your work-"

Before she could even finish, she felt a tentacle on her back, pushing her toward the doors. Once she was outside the room, his tentacle held the doorknob and slammed it shut in front of her, not letting her any chance to say or attempt to do anything else. She stared at the doors for a while before crossing her arms.

"You're no fun." She pouted before turning one heel and walked away down the hallway. "Oh 5.0.5, where are you?"

* * *

"She's finally gone…" He let out a sigh. "Hell, that woman is annoying."

He continued reading his newspaper while sipping his tea, trying to enjoy the morning as he could… when suddenly there was a knock on the doors.

He grunted in annoyance. "Demencia, what did I tell you?"

There was no answer… until the doors were knocked on again.

"No, Demencia, I'm not letting you in again."

He heard another knock and slammed his free hand down the desk, not bothering if the newspaper fell down onto the floor.

"For _Satan's sake,_ Demenica, I told you _not to-_ "

"It- It's me, sir."

He was stopped midway when he heard a different voice. It was Fluggie, and he sighed apologetically, holding his forehead as he shook his head.

"Come in."

He snapped his fingers and the newspaper floated back into his hand, at the same time Fluggie opened the door slightly. "Um… Do you have time to talk right now?"

"Go on."

"W- Well, I'm sorry that this isn't something important, but…" She said as she fiddled her thumbs, not looking straight at him. "How will you go into the hospital if you're in that f- form?"

"Oh, you mean when I teleport there?" He said calmly. "Well, you do remember that I can always disguise as a human being, don't you?"

A small "oh" made Black Hat let out a sigh.

"Do you have any other question?"

"No. Thank you for your time, sir."

With that said, she closed the door, leaving him alone again with silence. He let out a heavy sigh. With Demencia, he would be super grateful if she left him alone like that. But with Fluggie, whenever she came and left, he felt kind of lonely.

The way she had to do everything so carefully... broke his heart a little. He never understood why humans treasured their babies so much, but now he knew. That baby, that little creature growing inside her, it was a part of him, that man whom she probably still loved. He greatly wondered how it was possible, about how she could still have the will to keep going, to take care of that child after that awful man had betrayed her without a second thought.

He took another sip from his cup, trying to ignore his messy thoughts.

Maybe he should ask himself that kind of question as well, about how he could still a woman who was clearly not his.

* * *

"Welcome back, my villain viewers!" Black Hat announced as Cam-bot started recording. "Black Hat is here again to provide you goods that will help you defeat the heroes you wish to destroy in no time at all!"

"Here in my hand, I have an ice gun. It will be very useful if you want to freeze your enemy and take actions on them." Fluggie said as she held up the gun with one hand.

"Okay, show us how it works, doctor."

"Now, first off, you-"

That was what she had said before she cut herself off, wincing and collapsing to the floor. The gun dropped to the floor with a loud thud, but it was nothing compared to the pain that was rushing through her entire body, making her feel like she was being devoured, destroyed within seconds. The room was filled with panic within seconds, Black Hat's voice ringing loudly.

"Cam-bot, cut!"

He yelled before rushing over to Fluggie, kneeling down beside her. "Fluggie, what's wrong?!"

She didn't reply, but instead let out a painful yelp, holding her belly tightly. His eyes widened as he caught of what was happening.

"Fluggie, are you okay there-"

Demencia, who was rushing over Fluggie along with 5.0.5, was cut off when Black hat turned over them.

"It's time."

* * *

"Okay miss, now push!"

A nurse told Fluggie, who was lying on a labor table. Beside her was Black Hat who was in his disguise. She gritted her teeth as she gripped his hand so hard that her knuckles were turning white.

"You can do this Fluggie!"

He said, trying to sound like a human as possible as she let out a scream.

* * *

"Hmm…?"

"Oh, you're awake."

Fluggie fluttered her eyes open and she looked over the direction of the voice. It was Black Hat, who was sitting beside her, crossing his legs.

"S- Sir…?"

She asked in a weak voice, vision still a little blurry. When her view was clear again, she took a look around. The room she was in was completely white with white wall and a matching door. She was lying on a soft and comfortable bed with white sheet and blanket. Placed beside where Black Hat was sitting was a small nightstand with a lamp with some drawers.

"A- Are we in the hospital…?"

"Yes." He answered. "How are you feeling now?"

"Um… I'm… quite fine, I guess. What happened, sir?"

Before Black Hat could answer, the door opened, revealing a nurse. "Miss Slys, you finally woke up."

She then smiled, showing a bundle in her arms. "Congratulations, you just gave birth to a healthy baby boy!"

Hearing this, Fluggie's eyes widened, heart beating fast. She was able to recall what happened before she passed out. "Please, I want to see him-"

She tried to get up, but then stopped as a sudden pain rushed over her.

"Please do not try to move at this moment, miss. You're still weak."

The nurse said as she walked over the other two and handed the bundle over to Fluggie. Hands shaking, Fluggie slowly and carefully took it into her arms. She stopped for a while, looking at her baby. It was a fine baby boy with fair skin and dark black hair, and he was sleeping soundly inside the white blanket he was wrapped in.

Fluggie… didn't know what to say. After nine months, he had arrived into her world and was now sleeping in her arms. The pregnancy, the labour, the pain... they were all worth it when she was finally able to cradle him close to her, feeling him against her skin. She felt tears beginning to form at the corners of her eyes, but she tried to hold them back. Gently stroking the baby's hair, she smiled in happiness of being a mother now.

"You seem to like him, Fluggie."

"Yes, I really do, boss." She said. "I am a mother now…"

He looked at her, slowly taking in the moment. It was... precious in a way, and it strangely made him stop for a long while to truly appreciate each second of it. She seemed… so happy, beaming more brightly than ever while being with her son. Her smile showed joy and happiness, and it didn't seem like it would fade away any time soon.

And was that a drop of tears he saw that rolled down her cheek?

She raised one hand up, wiping away the tears drop.

"I will raise him, no matter what happens, even if… his father isn't here…" She looked over him and smiled. "But… thank you sir, for being here with him on his very first day."

His heart skipped a beat upon seeing her smiling at him. "N- No problem. You're my employee after all."

The door slammed open, revealing a panicking Demencia.

"Where is Fluggie?!"

"Shut up! The baby's sleeping, you know." Black Hat shushed her quiet.

"Oh sorry. Anyway, I brought her stuff, like you told me." Demencia pointed down to the bag she was holding in her other hand.

"Good."

"So…" The woman with mismatch eyes walked over Fluggie's bed. "Is that the baby?"

"Yes, Dememcia." Fluggie answered. "Oh, where's 5.0.5?"

"He's at the Manor. He couldn't come with me."

"Oh well, I guess he'll get to see the baby once I get home."

Demencia knelt down beside the bed, poking her head up to look at the sleeping baby. "What are ya gonna call him?"

"Yeah, I was about to ask that." Black Hat said. "Have you decided on a name?"

Fluggie paused for a while, trying to come up with something nice. "Hmm… I'm thinking about… Ryan."

"Ryan?" Demencia tapped her chin. "That's pretty good for a name."

"I really have no comment here." Said Black Hat. "I'm not really good with names."A short moment of silence later, and Fluggie looked down at her son once again, smiling as she kissed his forehead.

"Ryan Slys, welcome to the world."


	7. Raising a Baby

"Hmm… It's awfully quiet in there." Black Hat thought as he walked toward the lab.

Fluggie just returned from the hospital a week ago, but he gave her a few more days to rest until she's fully in condition of working. It had been about two or three days now, so he had half suspected that she had begun working in, which didn't explain the silence in the room. Normally, he would hear various noises in her lab, such as the sound of thrilling, hammering and stuff falling… But now, like he had mentioned, it was unusually silent in there. Did she take another day off?

"Fluggie, are you in there?" Black Hat asked as he knocked on the door, but he got no answer from inside. He knocked again, and decided to open anyway when there was only silence yet again.

Sighing, he turned the doorknob and opened the door…

… before he was greeted by a loud shout.

"What the-" He covered his ears, if he had any, and looked inside.

He could see that Fluggie was very busy, not because she was working on the invention but because she was a very hard time calming her baby down, whose crying was so loud that it spread through the entire mansion. It was just the sound of a baby crying, so he wondered why it startled him so much. Was it because he had never heard such sound before?

But the most important question was, how come he didn't hear Ryan crying when he was outside?

"Mommy's here, mommy's here… Don't cry Ryan, don't cry…" Fluggie said as she cradled Ryan in her arms, trying her best to make him stop crying. Unfortunately, she didn't succeed.

Fluggie still hadn't been aware that Black Hat was standing there yet, since her back was facing him. He sighed, shaking his head at the sight.

He had heard thousands of times that taking care of a baby was exhausting, thus explaining why many would see one as the end of their freedom. But he had not seen how it was done until now, and it absolutely tired him just by looking at it. Fluggie was restless, never a minute of peace ever since her baby was born. Feeding Ryan, getting him to bed, making him stop crying and yelling... It had been a cycle for the past few days.

He was about to speak up, or even offer some help to stop the obnoxious noise, when something else was heard.

_Hush, little baby, don't say a word._

_Mama's gonna buy you a mockingbird_

Fluggie sang out a lullaby to her baby, and Ryan immediately stopped crying, leaving space for her singing to spread though the room.

_And if that mockingbird won't sing,_

_Mama's gonna buy you a diamond ring._

_And if that diamond ring turns brass,_

_Mama's gonna buy you a looking glass._

Black Hat was… speechless, because this was the first time he'd ever heard her singing. Well, to be completely honest, he had overheard her singing during work before, but he couldn't really hear much because most of the times, she was just humming or singing really quietly. This was the first time he had heard her sing so clearly, and it was… a beautiful sight. She gazed dearly down to her son as she gently cradled him. Every word she sang out sounded like a calming and beautiful melody to him, soothing everything down peacefully.

Soon, Ryan closed his eyes and fell into a deep slumber. Sighing in relief, she put him back into his rib, cradling it until she was sure that he was fully asleep. She turned around, ready to take her leave and that was when she finally realized that her boss was standing there and had witnessed the entire thing.

"J- Jefecito?!" She asked in surprise. "W- What are you doing here?!"

"To check on your work, of course." He said calmly in order to hide the fact that he was still amazed by what he had just seen.

"How l- long you've been s- standing there?"

"The whole time."

Her face burnt up a little, realizing what those words meant.

He had heard her singing, which was one of the last things she would ever want.

"I didn't know you can sing, Fluggie."

She didn't answer, still embarrassed.

"Anyway…" He fisted his hand in front of his mouth and coughed, breaking the silence between them. "How's your work?"

"I've already drawn out the ideas, and now I'm gathering some parts for it."

"Good." He said and was about to leave, but stopped when he remembered something. "Oh, and Fluggie?"

"Yes, sir?"

"Why didn't I hear your son's crying from outside? He's pretty loud, you know."

"Ah, that's because I've soundproofed the room, sir." She explained. "I'm sure that you don't like hearing baby crying, right?"

There was a long pause before he answered.

"Yes."

* * *

"Good morning, sir."

Black Hat looked up from his coffee mug and saw Fluggie walking into the kitchen with a five-month-old Ryan in her arms. She sat down onto a seat across from his at the table, and he eyed her for a while before returning his gaze back to his mug.

"Aroo." 5.0.5 greeted her, turning his eyes away from the pan.

"Good morning to you too, 5.0.5."

"Morning…" Demencia yawned as she took a seat next to Fluggie. "I stayed up so late last night, and now I'm tired…"

"Well, that's what you get for annoying me in the middle of the night" The demon said, not looking at her as he casually sipped his coffee.

"Hey! You lying there doesn't mean you were asleep!"

"A-ga, a-ga…" A plate of freshly cooked pancake was placed on the table in front of Fluggie by 5.0.5 and Ryan babbled as he watched the steam emitting from it.

Noticing Ryan, Demencia turned around. "Hi there, little one!"

Ryan could have liked it… if Demencia didn't show her sharp teeth and lean extremely close to his face.

He cried as a result.

"Demencia!" Fluggie scolded, holding her son tightly to her. "I told you not to scare him like that!"

"Uh… I'm sorry…" The lizard girl scratched the back of her neck, confused about what she did to scare the baby.

Fluggie ignored her and proceeded to calm him down. The blue bear, who was still standing next to her, looked at Ryan with concern before extending one paw toward Ryan. The baby boy was still crying until he saw the fluffy blue fur in front of him and touched it. Holding the bear's paw, he giggled.

"Oh…?" Demencia stared at the two.

"It seems that Ryan likes 5.0.5." Fluggie said as Ryan played with the blue bear. "Well, I'm happy that he has a friend now."

Black Hat was silent throughout the entire time. He thought to himself a lot and still wasn't able to answer the questions that were running in his mind. Fluggie, she was just his employee and a poor single mother who was cruelly left alone by her ex. Ryan, he wasn't his blood child or related to him in any way. He was just his employee's child who was a result of an accident.

He wasn't someone Fluggie would love or a father to Ryan.

Yet he still cared for them…

And he just couldn't wrap his head around it.

* * *

"Okay, time to sleep, Ryan."

Ryan, who was now more than ten months old, yawned tiredly as his mother put him into his crib. Today, he played with 5.0.5 all day, and thanks to that Fluggie had a lot of work done. Now, it was nighttime and he was indeed very exhausted.

Gently putting him down, Fluggie cradled the crib. Just after a few seconds, he was fast asleep. But just when she was about to leave, she heard him saying something very quietly.

"Ma…"

"Hmm…?" She said, returning her gaze back to him.

"Ma…"

"Are you seeing something in your dream, Ryan?" She smiled as she looked down at him.

"Ma… Mama…"

Fluggie froze in place.

She couldn't believe her ears anymore.

Ryan just said his first word, in his sleep. 'Mama'.

She couldn't hold back her tears. Of course, they said that babies would say their first words around this age, but… she was unable to hold back the emotion overwhelming her. Even without his father to enjoy this wonderful moment, she still felt so happy of being a mother hearing her son calling her 'Mama' for the first time.

"Ryan…" She said between her sobbing. "I promise… I promise that I will take care of you… always…"

* * *

"Crap, I'm five minutes late!"

Fluggie said as she ran upstairs. Black Hat asked her to meet him at his office at seven o'clock this evening, but she forgot about that until she was one minute late. She knew her boss too well. Only thirty seconds late, and you know you're screwed. But five minutes late?

Oh, she was so done.

Slamming the door open, she huffed. "I- I'm here, B- Black Hat sir!"

"Take a seat, Fluggie."

Her eyes widened in surprise.

He did not punish her for being late?

"Um… are you okay, sir?"

"What?" He said as he intertwining his fingers in front of his face and his elbows rested on his desk. "Do I look like I'm not okay?"

"O- Of course not, sir!" She stuttered. "It's just… uh…"

"Did you bring the blueprints of that new machinery?" He said, cutting her off.

"Yes! They're right here, sir!"

"Good. Now come here and explain how it works for me."

She stepped forward, feeling that with every step she took, his gaze on her seemed to get more serious and scarier. Shaking, she sat down onto the seat across from his at his desk.

Throughout the discussion, she noticed her boss's strange behavior. Usually, when they were talking over a new invention, Black Hat would have tons of questions ready for her and he would constantly said things like "This isn't evil enough!" But today, he seemed… extremely quiet.

He agreed to almost everything she told him, expect for a few times he asked her about a part. She didn't know that it was a good thing, because when her boss showed unusual behaviors, it was usually a bad sign. A very bad one, to be exact.

She was relief when she found out that the discussion was over.

"Um… that's all for now."

He didn't say anything.

"I- I'll take my leave now. I'll tell you i- if there're some new updates."

He only nodded, allowing her to leave her seat. She stood still in her place for a good few seconds, idling awkwardly before slowly making her way toward the doors. But the moment her hand was merely inches away from the doorknob…

"Yikes!"

She was startled when a click was heard after a snap of the fingers, meaning that the doors were locked.

"Doctor Fluggie Slys…"

Holding firmly onto the blueprints, she slowly turned her head back in fear as she heard him calling her full name.

"Calling you here for a discussion is just an excuse."

He rose himself up from his seat.

"We need to talk, about something else."

**To be continued...**


	8. The Truth

"We need to talk, about something else."

Black Hat had a dead serious look on his face, his voice was low and his right eye stared straight at her without blinking. Fluggie knew him too well to put this into the list of the last thing she would ever want to happen in her life. When this happened, it meant this was not a joking matter at all. They stared at each other in silence, the tension seemed to rise as every second flew by. Bringing up all of her courage, she gulped and said.

"W- What is it, s- sir…?"

There was a very long pause between them before he finally spoke up. "It's about you, or to be exact, your son."

Sweats rolled down her face and neck even more, hands shaking as she tried her best not to drop the blueprints. "D- Did Ryan do something t- to upset you…? Or… a- are you tired of him a- and want him to be away f- from you…?"

He moved from his seat and proceeded to walk to her at a very slow pace. With every step he took, his stare on her seemed to get even scarier than ever. He kept eyeing her until he was standing straight and tall in front of her. She trembled and stared down at the floor, not brave enough to make eyes-contact with him.

"Fluggie." He said, ignoring her question. "You have some explanations to do."

She didn't say anything as he continued.

"This happened just two days ago."

* * *

_It was another typical day at Black Hat Organization. Fluggie was busy, as usual, so she had 5.0.5 take care of her son as she tried her best to finish the customized weapon for one of Black Hat's clients. At the moment, 5.0.5 was in his room playing with Ryan along with Demencia. The girl had enough to games to entertain the little baby boy and the blue bear had to be there at any time to make Ryan stop crying or save him from Dememcia's dangerous tricks. One time she was bouncing on the bed with the baby and suddenly she lost her grip on him, accidentally dropping him, but thankfully 5.0.5 was there to catch him in time before he could hit the ground._

_Right now, the bear and the baby was sitting on the rugged floor, playing with toys while Demencia was sitting at the edge of the bed, reading an action novel and imagining her as the main character. Ryan suddenly crawled to the book shelf and reached his hand upward. 5.0.5 looked at him, confused._

_"Aroo?"_

_"Hmm? What is it, 5.0.5?" Demencia turned her eyes from the book to 5.0.5. Seeing that he was looking at Ryan, she turned to the baby as well and realized that he was pointing to something at the top of the bookshelf. She looked up to see that it was the big teddy bear placed at the said place._

_"Oh, ya want that, little one?"_

_She said and proceeded to walk to the bookshelf, reaching up to take the teddy bear, but it was much far away from her reach. But it really wasn't a problem with her, since she had basically touched every inch of this mansion, and not even the walls were safe. So, she knelt down and got ready before jumping up with all her energy and grabbed the toy in her hand._

_"Hey, I think I've improved! I jump much higher than usual-"_

_She chirmed but then cut herself off when she felt her body becoming light, as if she was walking on clouds. Looking down, she realized that… she was literally floating with her feet barely touching the ground._

_"W- What?! Why am I floating?!"_

_5.0.5 panicked and tried to grab her feet and pulled her down. But he was unable to, as she was away from his reach. At that same time, Black Hat entered the room._

_"I heard yelling. What's going on here-" He cut himself off as well when he saw the sight before him, though on he only grunted in annoyance. "Demencia, I thought I told you not to mess with the anti gravitational device!"_

_"That's not the case! I'm a good girl today!" She wasn't panicking, but she definitely was confused. "I'm floating without it! Put me down."_

_He was about to scold her before he heard those last three words from her. "Demencia, are you implying that this is my doing? Because it isn't."_

_"This is no time for jokes!"_

_He sighed as he crossed his arms. "I swear to fucking hell that I'm not doing it."_

_"But you're the only one here who can control things with your mind!"_

_Once again, he was going to protest when he saw 5.0.5, who was holding his paws in front of his mouth in terror. Curious, he walked up to him, not giving a single care about the lizard girl._

_"What's wrong, 5.0.5?"_

_The blue bear didn't answer as he still stared down at Ryan, who was giggling happily with his arms fully stretched toward where Demencia was. Looking closely at his small hands, the demon's heart skipped a beat when he saw dim red light surrounding them. Bending down to look at his face more closely, he nearly froze in place at what was happening before him._

_The boy's left eye was glowing a shade of red that matched the light at his hands. And even more than that, in that eye was a top hat symbol._

_"Aroo…?"_

_5.0.5 let out a small bear noise as he looked at the demon. Black Hat had a very terrified look on his face as he slowly stepped backward steps by step, holding his hands to the side of his head. The bear was rather surprised because he had never seen the eldritch looking so scared of anything. But before he could question about it, the demon had already ran out of the room, leaving the three behind._

* * *

Fluggie was always thankful of her paper bag for hiding away her expression when she needed to. But right now, she was _super grateful,_ because if she hadn't worn it, Black Hat would have spotted the terrified look on her face as she sweated harder than ever. She gripped the blueprints in her hands as if her life depended on it.

"What does this mean, Fluggie?"

She didn't answer.

"Fluggie, I demand you explain this matter."

He still didn't get the reply he was waiting from her.

After a very long silence between them, the limit of his patience made him slam one hand harshly onto the door she was leaning on. Startled, the inventor dropped the blueprints onto the floor beneath them as he gave her that same dead serious look. She looked at his hand placed beside her head and then at his face. Although he had only one hand placed there, it was enough to terrify her.

"Explain, Fluggie." His voice was deep. "You know that my power is at my left eye, correct? And that the top hat symbol represents me and me only? Tell me, is this what I think it is?"

Knowing that there was no other way to avoid answering him, she lowered her head and stared down at the floor once again.

"You're right, sir."

She hugged herself and said in a quiet tone.

"He's your son."

**To be continued...**


	9. The Night that Led to Everything

"He's your son."

Fluggie said as she tightened her arms, hugging herself. She didn't dare look at Black Hat one bit, but she could still feel his stare on her, the way he was looking so closely at her, inspecting her every movement. She stared down at the ground, completely ignoring the fallen blueprints as she stayed quiet. The tension between them seemed to rise by every second, and her heart beats joined the flow, increasing as each moment flew by. Tick tock, tick tock… The sound of the clock on the wall was the only thing that was heard in the demon's office throughout the entire confrontation.

Still keeping his hand in its place, Black Hat finally spoke up.

"So…" He started, catching her attention. "You've been hiding this from me? For more than a year?"

"… Yes." She answered, her voice remaining quiet.

There was a long pause between them before he talked again. "I need some explanation."

If she had been looking directly into his face, she would have raised an eyebrow at him. "W- What do you mean, sir?"

"Tell me everything about this whole thing. I need every detail of it, from the day when we… uh… you already know what I'm talking about."

She blushed slightly as she caught on what he was hinting. And from his rarely-found uncertain tone, she could quite tell that he was pretty uncomfortable about this topic as well. Regardless, it had her think a lot. While trying to decide if this was the right time to finally tell him, the possibilities of what came next scared her. How would he react to this? Would he kick her and Ryan out? Or even if he did decide to keep them, would he treat Ryan well or would the little boy have to suffer what his mother had been going through for such a long time? She was sure she wasn't just paranoid, and that it was a right thing to worry about. He once said that 'A true villain never needs a family' after all, so it was clear from the very beginning that he did not wish to have a child, let alone have it with her.

"Fluggie." His voice snapped her out of her thoughts. "Are you going to tell me or what?"

That didn't require a genius to figure out that she had no other choice.

"Well…" She started. "You see…"

* * *

_Fluggie walked down the hallway quietly, trying not to make too much noise that could wake up the others. It was midnight, and she was in the middle of work when her stomach grumbled quite loudly. That was when she realized that she hadn't eaten anything for ages, so she decided to head for the kitchen. At first, she wanted some instant noddles, but decided against it afterward, as she needed to be back for her work quickly, so she chose some snacks instead._

_Now full, she walked back to her lab until she heard a something which made her stop in her track. Walking forward cautiously and peaking behind the corner of the hallway, she saw her boss leaning against the wall, groaning. She immediately rushed over, helping him stand straight._

_"Um… sir? What are you doing here? I thought you were in your room?"_

_He didn't answer, so she started inspecting him a little closer. He was in his suit, but the smell of alcohol was there, and she thought of something that could explain it - He had just been out drinking and came back drunk. He could teleport, so him going back here without her noticing was possible._

_"Sir, it's very cold outside. You'll get sick if you stay here."_

_She put her hand on his back and let him lean over her as she proceeded to guide him to his bedchamber. He was quite heavy, but she managed, as his room was quite nearby. Luckily, it wasn't locked, and she could push it open easily._

_Seeming to have noticed her, the eldritch turned his head and looked over her. "Hmm… Fluggie?"_

_His voice was hazy, but what caught her attention was his look. He looked… hurt. This was very unusual of him, considering that he was one of the most violent and fearless man she had ever met, scarier than any demon customers she had ever encountered. So why? Why was he having that look? Was it because he was drunk? Fluggie stayed silent for a few good seconds, trying to find the answer as she wondered what he was thinking. He had always been an unreadable man, but this didn't feel normal. It felt as if... he had something to tell her. If only she knew what it was._

_"Sir… Are you okay?"_

_He didn't say anything but stared at her instead. He looked directly into her eyes, and she once again found herself questioning about it. His eyes… there was something in them too… She had never been so confused in her life._

_Once they finally reached his king-sized bed, she let out a sigh of relief, thinking that once she had successfully put him to bed, her job would be done._

_Unfortunately, she was totally wrong._

_As she held his body and proceeded to lie him down the bed, he gripped her hand tightly. Before she could have time to react to that, he had pushed her down unexpectedly. His hot breath reached her face, and she shivered at it, realizing what was going on._

_In no time at all, he had had her pinned down onto the couch with him hovering on top._

_"S- Sir, what are you doing-"_

_She was cut off when he started to sink into her neck, his sharp teeth nipping at her soft milky skin and made her gasp loudly. She tried to break free, but then found out that both of her wrists were trapped by his tight grip. With them being held in place, she could do nothing besides squirming uselessly beneath him. His teeth scraped along her neck gently yet forcefully enough to leave a mark there. That was when her heart skipped a beat._

_Was it a moan that just escaped her lips?_

_Smirking, he moved for another spot and started to nibble again gently. She bit her lips, sweats starting to run down her face until suddenly, his teeth dug into her neck again and made her let out a loud sound. Fisting her hands, she tried to ignore the pain that was throbbing at her neck where he had bitten her. He licked his lips as he watched how the fresh red stream of blood was starting to run down to her collarbone, and he stuck his tongue out to lap it all up like a delicious drink. Tears started to form at her eyes now as she panted._

_"Y- You're- AH!"_

_The word 'drunk' didn't have time to come out when he pulled down the neckline of her T-shirt, going for her collarbone and biting down hard, leaving another mark there. Looking down at her, he grinned at the marks he had left on her skin, admiring them as his own handy work. Between pants, she opened her mouth to say something before being cut off again when he slammed his lips onto hers._

_Her eyes doubled in size, her face burning hot as her first kiss was taken away by surprise by her own boss. He deepened their kiss by letting his tongue battle with hers effortlessly. Some girl would have tried to break the kiss as soon as possible, but for some reason, she was… enjoying it. She wasn't lying, but he was a very great kisser. Their tongue intertwined together in a steady rhyme as his sharp teeth scraped lightly at her bottom lip. She would continue this forever, but the need of air forbad her to. She pushed his chest slightly, and he luckily seemed to have been able to catch her hint, pulling away and looking breathless as well._

_With a string of saliva being the only thing still connecting their lips, Black Hat looked down at his scientist who was a panting mess. Her wrists were trapped on both side of her head, her hair was lying carelessly across the couch, her face was flushed red, her clothes were wrinkled messily and her neck was showered in red marks. Neither of them said anything as he continued to stare silently at her._

_Black Hat always loved Fluggie so much that he wondered how many times he had thought about that. He wanted to protect her at any cost because she was so fragile, but the need to hide away his real feelings prevented him from doing it. Despite that, there was something burning inside him... Something that had made him question himself multiple times… But eventually, he got his answer. Desire. It was desire. The shameful desire of keeping her to himself. The sinful desire of claiming her as his own._

_To Demencia, as well as many other girls existing in this universe, he didn't feel that way, he wanted nothing from her at all. And in fact, he just wanted her to stay away from him because he simply found her annoying. But to Fluggie… he was no longer himself. Every time he saw her getting too friendly with other villains or them flirting with her, he felt his blood boil inside him and his fists tighten, like he just wanted to beat the hell out of them and pulled her away. He strangely found her alluring. That fair skin, those rosy lips, those slim legs, those beautiful fingers… Every inch of her body was perfect, and his mind was filled with her images. He desperately had the need to hold her into his tight embrace from behind as he traveled his hands down her body, whispering dirty things into her ears. Even further, he sometimes had those sinful dreams of her on his bed, which he ended up waking up in a panting and sweating mess._

_Now, with his ideal woman lying under him in that samd state, his desire seemed to grow, urging him to satisfy his need. He tried to hold back, but the fact that he was drunk made it worse._

_"S- Sir Black Hat…"_

_Fluggie indeed wasn't helping with that quiet mumble of hers._

_Grinning without realizing, he used one hand to hold her chin, his claw scraping gently at her bottom lip, making her shudder. Not wasting any second, he used the other hand to grab her lab coat. As he slowly pulled it down her arm, he leaned down to level his face with hers and whispered into her ears._

_"You're mine and no one else's. Just_ mine _only."_

**To be continued…**


	10. Everything Unraveled

Silence.

Once again.

The story ended with a long and uncomfortable silence. Fluggie hated this so damn much, but she couldn't get out of it, considering how her boss was speechless the whole time. She couldn't tell how he was feeling just by looking at his face, but she could use one word to describe it. Blank. His expression was completely blank. Maybe he was shocked to hear the entire story about that unexpected night, or he simply had nothing to say. Or maybe, it was a combination of both. But no matter what, she had finished telling him the whole truth behind her pregnancy, and was eagerly waiting for an answer. Yes, eagerly. She seriously could not understand it one bit, about how Black Hat always yelled at her when she didn't want him to, yet remained silent when she just wanted him to open his mouth to talk. Even one word was enough at this very moment.

Thankfully, he granted her wish.

"That was how Ryan was born, huh?"

And how was she supposed to answer that?

Seemingly not trying to get a reply out of her, he continued after a sigh. "My stupid drinking habit, that is…"

She still remained silent, letting the demon talk again.

"Anyway, that thing is clear now. But still, you haven't fully explained the story."

"What do you mean, sir?" She raised an eyebrow, finally having some courage to look at him. At his chest, exactly. "I told you everything."

"No, you didn't." He said. "What happened after that, and how Ryan discovered his power… I have to know all."

"Oh, yeah… Right…"

* * *

_Fluggie hugged her naked chest as she slowly sat up from the bed. The cold was sending the chill down her body and she hurriedly looked around her to search for her clothes. But before that, she looked over Black Hat, who had fallen asleep again. She raised an eyebrow at him. She was still wondering why the whole time they were doing… "it", he had managed to keep every piece of clothes on him. It was unfair, because she weren't able to keep any piece of clothes on her body during those hours, not even her bag (because he threw them away, of course). She was sweaty all over, and yes, it was annoying as hell. So now, she was super impressed of how he was able to sleep through with that amount of sweats on his body._

_Sighing, she picked up her clothes and headed for the bathroom. She needed to take a bath, like seriously, right away. Beside, the last thing she wanted right now was him waking up and questioning about how she was here naked beside him._

_By the time she reached the bathroom, she walked past the mirror… until she stopped when she thought she just saw something in the corner of her eyes. Standing in front of the mirror, her face became pale._

_Red marks._

_Red marks… There were three of them, covering her neck._

_…_

_A few minutes passed and all she could do was standing there motionlessly as she continued staring at her neck. Fear was the only thing she was feeling. Those weren't some ordinary hickeys at all, she could clearly tell. Those were marks, literally marks. Well, to think about it, she shouldn't be surprised, considering how he was a demon with those sharp teeth._

_Honestly, she didn't mind the fact that he bit her. But the most important thing here was the question: How was she supposed to hide these? She had lived with Black Hat for so long, and she was sure that there was zero chance he wouldn't question about this. Of course, she couldn't say such ridiculous thing like 'This is a lab accident'. That definitely did NOT look like a lab accident, and she was one hundred percent sure that she wouldn't get away with that stupid lie._

_…_

_Oh yeah, scarf! Yeah! She had some in her room, and she could just wrap one around her neck and lied that she was sick, that was all she had to do! She face-palmed and chuckled quietly, blaming herself for not thinking about that in the first place. She started to cough a few times before smiling._

_"Yeah, these fake coughs sound real to me."_

_She finally had a solution, but she still had to be careful, though. She usually got super nervous when she was lying, which would make him notice it right away. So she had to try to speak as fluently as possible._

* * *

"Hmm…" Black Hat spoke up. "No wonder why I sensed something fishy about that scarf."

"I'm sorry…" She fiddled her thumbs, feeling embarrassed. "But anyway… about Ryan's power…"

* * *

_"And… peek-a-boo!"_

_Fluggie opened her hand and was greeted by the giggles of the eight-month-old Ryan. It was nighttime, and Fluggie just finished some of her works, so she figured that she would play with him for a while. Well, he was her son after all, and she couldn't just let him with 5.0.5 and Demencia the whole time. She was glad that she decided to stay with him in her room, because they were having great time._

_Looking up at the clock, she saw that it was eight o'clock at night, and she picked Ryan up. "Okay honey, time for bed."_

_Ryan babbled something that told her that he refused to sleep. She found it very cute, but bed time was still bed time. She chuckled lightly as she carried him toward his crib. After gently putting him down, she pulled up the cover and kissed him on his forehead._

_"Night night, my Ryan."_

_Ryan babbled something again, squirming inside his crib as he frowned. She didn't quite understand what he was meaning until a while later._

_"Oh, Mr. Bun Bun! I totally forgot about him."_

_She looked away and started to search for the fluffy stuffed rabbit 5.0.5 made for him not long ago. Taking no time at all, she found it, but it was put in a box on an extremely tall shelf, where she usually put her tools. Maybe she had accidentally put it in there while cleaning up. She sighed, proceeding to get the chair when she heard happy giggles behind her. Turning around, she was startled when she saw the toy floating in the air._

_"What the-"_

_She watched it float toward her son, and what she saw next absolutely terrified her. His left eye and hands… they were glowing a red light, and there was a hat symbol in his eye. She was speechless. What the heck was going on?! What had gotten into him, her dear Ryan? At first, she suspected that Black Hat had to do something with this, since he was the only one capable of having supernatural power here, but she quickly convinced herself that he was, in no way, involved in this-_

_Wait a minute…_

_Black Hat..._

_Black Hat…_

_She froze in place once she realized the reason._

_Ryan was Black hat's son. Black Hat was the only one who could control things through his mind, as well as who the top hat represented. Black Hat's power was at his left eye, and Ryan's left eye was glowing as he was using magic. So that meant this power…_

_He got this power from his father._

_Her knees crashed to the floor below._

_How was she supposed to hide this away from her boss now?_

* * *

Tension filled the room as nothing came out of Black Hat's mouth.

Fluggie had her reason for hiding, she wasn't kidding. It was mostly about Ryan. If Black hat ever found out that the boy was his son, which he just did, then who knew what the demon would do? What if he couldn't accept this truth and kick them out? What if he just wanted to keep her to work for him and not Ryan? Would they be separated? Or worse… what if he tried to… get rid of Ryan, of the little boy who she loved and cherished with all her life? Hell, there was no telling what this eldritch was capable of doing.

"Thank you for taking your time, Doctor."

Her eyes widened.

He snapped his fingers, a click of the doors following. "I unlocked the door, you can go now."

She was still speechless.

"Go, Fluggie. It's late now."

Hands shaking, she nodded as she went to pick up the blue prints and walked out, quietly closing the door behind her.

When she got into her room, she backed herself to the door and cried her eyes out.

* * *

Three days had passed.

Yet Black Hat showed no sign of doing anything out of the ordinary.

And that scared Fluggie.

From that very night when Black Hat finally got to hear the story behind all of this, there was suddenly a very awkward yet scary tension between them whenever they were near each other. And because of that, she cursed herself for staying in the same household with him. Eating, sleeping, working,… She had to do everything with him in presence. Just by walking past him down the hallway sent the shiver down her spine already. She doubted that the other two noticed, though, since they showed no sign of suspicion or concern and just were themselves.

She kept wondering what her boss was thinking…

Until the night of the fourth day.

"Good night, Ryan."

Fluggie said as she turned off the light, leaving Ryan sleeping soundly in his crib. She closed the door behind her and sighed. Today was such a tiring day and she still had tons of works to do, which already made her want to yawn.

As she started to walk toward her lab, she shivered. Why was she sensing something unusual here? The farther she walked, the more she was getting this feeling. Or was it just the cold weather outside? Trying to ignore it, she reached her lab and went inside. From the very first moment she took her first step into the room, she got that same feeling again. The room was filled with only the dim light of the lamp which she assumed she had accidentally left switched on when she left the lab a few hours ago. With a shaking hand, she quietly closed the door and cautiously looked around. No one. No one was in sight… Still remaining careful, she went to the light switch near her workbench.

But then, a voice spoke up.

"I've been waiting for your arrival, Doctor Fluggie."

Black Hat. There was no mistake that it was Black Hat, the demon she had been feeling afraid of these days.

She wanted to turn around, but for some reason, her entire body refused to move and she stood motionlessly in her place with her back facing him. She could hear his heels clanking on the floor loudly in the silent room, the tension rising each time he took one step forward. From that very day, she was so scared by the feeling of them being alone, which she tried to prevent from happening. Yet here they were, alone with each other in the laboratory. She had to admit that he was good at hiding and lurking in the darkness without being noticed at all.

He stopped once he was right behind her.

"You've been avoiding me since that day, Fluggie. Don't think that I didn't notice."

She didn't respond, letting the silence filled the entire room. It was so quiet that she could hear her own rapid heart beat. One second, two seconds… Each second went by slowly and none of them said or did anything. She had the urge to speak up, but her lips was unable to get any word out through them.

As she was wandering with her thoughts, her heart skipped a beat when his arms wrapped around her waist, pulling her close to his chest. Her heart beat increased and she could feel like it was about to explode in any minute.

"B- Boss?"

Finally, she was able to say something.

This time, it was his turn to stay silent.

Three seconds, four seconds…

"I'm sorry, Fluggie."

**To be continued…**


	11. The Accident

One second…

Two seconds…

Three seconds…

Nothing.

Nothing… Nothing happened between them. Seconds just continued flying by, but to Fluggie, the time seemed to have frozen in the room.

Black Hat, her boss, had his arms wrapped around her waist, and hadn't let go of her since then. At that very same moment, Fluggie thought her heart had stopped beating forever. She wanted to slap herself to check if this was a dream, but her hands had frozen as well and refused to move an inch. She wanted to believe that this was just a dream because… she didn't know if it was just her, but Black Hat's embrace was… warm. His embrace was very warm, and it seemed like it was getting tighter and tighter around her as every second passed by.

And what did he say a while ago? 'I'm sorry, Fluggie.'

He just said sorry.

Subconsciously, she reached up both hands and touched his. Her heart skipped a beat as their hands made contact, and she wondered if his did as well.

"Sir…?" That was all she managed to say out loud. There were so many things she wanted to say right now, but she didn't know why only the said word was able to escape her lips.

"I'm- I'm sorry…" He said quietly. "I should've known sooner… So damn sooner…"

At one point, she couldn't believe in her own ears anymore. First, he said sorry, and now he was saying those apologetic words _to her_. She actually started to think that this was really a dream because this was very out of character of him. He never showed any guilt or regret to anything he did, and she never imagined that he ever would. She quickly told herself to wake up, out of her fantasy of a better version of her boss.

…

No… Maybe this wasn't a dream at all. The tension in this room, the rapid beating of her heart and the warmth from his body… Those things seemed too real to be just a dream. Too real… Then why was he acting this way?

"Why are you sorry, sir?"

"Are you that stupid, Fluggie?" There is no mistaking it. There was really guilt in his voice. "All I do to you is hurting you. And now, my stupid drinking habit got you pregnant and you had to raise Ryan all by yourself while having to continue working to death… Aren't those too much for you? You're a human, _for fuck's sake._ "

"But sir, you did take me to the hospital and take care of me…"

He said nothing for a few seconds.

"Sir, this is very unlike you-"

"Shut up."

Silence again.

"Just why…?"

She raised her eyebrow at his words.

"Why are you still here, Fluggie? Some people would have tried to run away by now."

Why was she still here…? There was a reason, she knew it herself. Trying to calm her shaking body down, she took in a deep breath and said in her quiet voice.

"I didn't stay for no reason, sir." She was surprised that she didn't stutter. "You're my savior, so why would I run away?"

"Savior…?" Now it was his turn to be confused.

"Did you forget already, sir?... About that day?"

Their memories started flooding back...

* * *

_Blue sky and white fluffy clouds…_

_Those two things were what the woman sitting by the window could see in the airplane. Resting her chin on her palm, she let out a small sigh under the paper bag she wore over on her head._

_Her name was Fluggie Slys and she was an inventor that provided all kind of weapons and equipments for those who need them. Good or bad people, she didn't really care. As long as they bought her products, she was fine with it. She didn't like selling her inventions to villains, though. Not because they were bad. Like mentioned above, she didn't mind selling them to bad people. It was just that… they were sometimes so scary, both physically and mentally, that she had very hard time standing, let alone talk._

_This year, they were holding a very big convention for scientists and inventors from all over the world in Hat Ave. Fluggie was invited too, so right now, she was sitting on the plane, waiting for it to land at her destination. Of course, she brought her invention too, which was a robot glove that could control and shock objects as well as people. But she had a very hard time getting permission to get it on the plane, you know, because the security there was very tight. They eventually let her bring it along, but it was put in a sealed and explosion-proofed suitcase, kept in a very well-hidden place on the plane, where only the employees could get in._

_Looking at her watch, she let out another sigh. It had been an hour since the plane took off, and she had been very nervous. This was actually the first time she was invited to a convention, and she worried that she might not make a good impression on everyone about her and her invention. Moreover, she had always been afraid of standing in front of a crowd. What if she became a laughingstock for everyone there?_

_As she was deep in thoughts, the plane shook. At first, it wasn't anything to worry about, but after a while, it turned out to be something very terrifying. It keeps shaking harder and harder to the point the flight attendants had to remind everyone to make sure their seatbelts were fastened and to hold on tight firmly in place. Fluggie looked out of the window and were frightened to see dark clouds covering outside and thunders echoed, lightening up the whole sky. The others around her started to panic as well._

_She desperately hoped that this was just a regular storm and would go away after a while._

_Sadly, hopes were just hopes._

" _ **Emergency! Emergency! We have an emergency!"**_

_The warning of the pilots sent through the microphone was the last thing she heard when everything became pitch black as the stormy sky._

**To be continued…**


	12. My Savior

" _Ahh…"_

_A little mumble escaped Fluggie's lips as her eyes slowly opened. Her body was aching everywhere, but she couldn't just lie there while her mind was still completely confused. Relying on her elbow, she used all of her strength to push herself up from the dusty ground, but she regretted it instantly because of the immediate pain she felt in the arm she used. Despite all the pain, she managed to fully sit up. She rubbed her eyes and her vision slowly became clearer, allowing her to see the horrendous sight in front of her very eyes._

_She was in the middle of nowhere. Her body was covered in bruises and she wasn't sure if her legs could even move. Pieces of metals scattered all over the dirt ground, dust still heavy. What was more terrifying was that she could see a few arms or legs under the piles of broken metals…_

_As quick as she started to panic, her mind snapped. Memories flooded back to her… The plane… The crash…_

" _Oh… Oh no… E- Everyone…?"_

_No answer was heard. Her breath became heavy, her heartbeat increased…_

" _Is- Is anybody around here…?"_

_Still no answer…_

_Finally being able to face it, she buried her face into her hands and sobbed quietly. She could not deny the truth anymore. She was on a plane, worrying about the convention she was invited to, but now she was nowhere near home with no one, being the only person who survived the crash. She believed that the emergency service would arrive as soon as they discovered the accident, but she wasn't sure they'd really find out or arrive in time, since she thought that this was a remote area, judging by how there was no one or house around._

_She decided to solve this herself._

_Shaking her legs, she was relief that they were still quite fine despite the injuries. She picked up herself from the ground, trying to gain balance. But soon enough, a pain struck at her hip and nearly made her fall. Once she had stood still, she held the wound at her hip and started to move very gently forward, trying her best not to make any more damage to her body. It was real bad as it was to begin with._

_A few steps now felt like ages to her. While she was still struggling to walk, she glanced her eyes to the side of the ground, as something caught her eyes. She quickly recognized the object and knelt down carefully to pick it up. It was her invention, the robot glove. It was locked inside a very secured suitcase, but maybe the fall was too much that it broke, revealing the glove inside it. Gladly, she was the first to spot it._

_With the glove stay hidden under her lab coat, she continued forward._

* * *

" _M- Must n-not give up…"_

_Fluggie whispered to herself as she struggled to keep herself together and continued to move forward. It had been over hours of walking, and she could barely find any person or house to ask for help. All she could see was the sideway and the big trees nicely in a line. Her breath was heavy as well as her footstep. She breathed in and out, trying not to collapse. The cold weather didn't help at all and her body was shaking rapidly._

_As she started to lose hope, she saw a glimpse of something new. A… gate, a black gate. That meant there was a house, and maybe there were people living there. Her eyes sparked up and her determination returned. She took another heavy step forward. But as soon as when she built up her hope once again, her vision started to get blurry._

" _N- no! M- Must keep g- going-"_

_She fainted._

* * *

_A few blinking and her eyes were opened once again. She rubbed them a little bit before letting her vision become clear. This time she remembered what had happened right away, and she wished that it was just a bad dream and she was waking up in her seat on the airplane. But no, this time it was something different that she totally didn't expect. She was lying on something quite comfy with a warm blanket on top, keeping her from the chill of the weather outside. The room was quite clean with white walls surrounding her. A desk was placed at the corner of the room with a chair coming along with it._

" _You're awake!"_

_A high-pitched voice was heard beside her and she slowly turned her head toward the direction of it. She was immediately freaked out by the wide cheek-to-cheek smile of another woman with pink bangs and green ponytail, one yellowish green right eye and a black smaller left eye, a lizard hat and crazy-looking clothes._

_Seeing that Fluggie was remaining silent in shock, the said woman moved her face closer._

" _Thank God I thought you're dead. You've passed out for two days straight!"_

" _T- Two days?"_

" _Yeah, unbelievable, right? Oh, that must mean you're very hungry!"_

" _Uh…"_

_Before Fluggie could find some words to say about all this, that woman cut her off. "He knew this, so he'd already told me to make something for you in the kitchen. Such a smart man he is. Stay here, I'll go get it."_

_Hold on, did she just say "he"?_

" _W- Wait! You're not the only one here?!"_

_No reply for her. The woman had already rushed out of the room, leaving her speechless. Fluggie freaked out when she first saw her, but had calmed down a bit when she showed no possible bad intention, although she looked kind of weird. But now when she realized that the woman wasn't the only owner of the house, her heart was beating rapidly again. She was seeking help a while ago, but now she was scared of meeting total strangers._

" _Here, eat up."_

_Being startled, she looked over to see the woman had already returned with a tray of food in her hands. She must have been wandering with mind that she didn't even realize the returning of the other._

" _Can ya sit up?"_

" _Y- Yes, I think."_

_She used her arms to push herself up. The pain at her hip was still there, but it hurt less now, thanks to the bandages that Fluggie guessed the woman gave her. Taking the food into her hands, she started eating, filling that empty stomach of hers. The food, which consisted of rice, scrambled egg and some soup, wasn't really bad. It was okay although it had gone completely cold. But they say that you'll devour everything when you are starving to death._

_Once she finished eating, she set the tray on the bedside table and asked the other. "Thank you so much for the mea, I really needed that. So… apparently, you helped me get in here and patch me up, right?"_

" _Oh no no no! He did all of that. I just made food and watch over you."_

" _But who is this 'he'-"_

" _Ah, I see that you've finally awaken."_

_A deep male voice intrude the conversation of the two women. His appearance nearly made Fluggie jump out of the bed. He didn't look like a normal human being_ at all. _He had a very rare height of about seven point six foot tall. His skin was blue-ish black, matching with his black trench coat, black-and-white shoes and top hat which had a red ribbon wrapped around. His right eye was black and small and he had a monochrome at his left eye. Underneath his trench coat were a red shirt, black tie and grey vest. But what really terrified Fluggie the most was his sharp fingers and his evil grin filled with sharp green teeth._

_Seeing that Fluggie was too scared to say anything, he cleared his throat and said. "Allow me to introduce myself. I'm Black Hat the eldritch, the founder of Black Hat Organization and the most evil villain in the world!"_

_"Black Hat...? I think I've heard that name somewhere..." Fluggie mumbled._

_"Of course." The eldritch smirked. "You as an inventor, I wouldn't be surprised if some of my previous clients mentioned my name. I'm popular anyway."_

_Fluggie jumped at his statement. "H- How did you know my job?!"_

_Black Hat's smirk got even wider as he took out her robot glove, showing her that he had proof, not just plain guess. Fluggie froze, speechless._

_"Demencia, could you go out for a moment? I need a... private talk with her." He fixed his tie as he cleared his throat._

_"Can I stay? I wanna listen."_

_"No."_

_The other woman, whose name Fluggie assumed was Demencia, pouted, but soon returned to her past self. "Okay! See ya later!"_

_With that, Demencia went outside the hallway with one single jump and closed the door, which Fluggie didn't want her to, at all. Being with the scary eldritch in one sane room? Oh boy..._

_"So... uh..." She started, breaking the uncomfortable silence. "Was that woman... your wife?"_

_"What? No. That would be a nightmare if she was. She's an annoying failed experiment that just... wouldn't leave." He sat down on the chair beside her bed and cleared his throat again. "Alright, back to the main topic. The reason you're here was because I brought you here, as Demencia might have told you."_

_"But how? I hadn't reached your house yet before I collasped."_

_"My sixth sense is very sharp, and I could sense your presence." He paused before continuing. "Honestly, I wasn't interested in you at first... before I saw your invention."_

_"Yeah... I was going to a convention, but my plane crash."_

_"Okay, whatever you went through, listen." His tone suddenly became serious. "Let's make a deal. I'm sure you have nowhere to go now, so I will offer you to stay here with every supplies you need. But like I said, this is a deal so I'm not going to give it to you free. My previous inventor who created Demencia left because of... a personal reason, and without him my business can't go on because I sell his inventions. So now, since you're an inventor as well, I need you to stay here and work for me. Deal?"_

_Deal or not? The answer was simple, deal. The offer he gave was perfect. She got a new home to stay in and all she had to do was working as an inventor she was. Sure, Black Hat still looked terrifying to her, but she could deal with it, no problem._

_"Deal."_

_"Excellent. I'm sure it'll be nice working with you from now on."_

_He grinned as they gave each other a hand shake._


	13. His Words

All words escaped Black hat at the very moment Fluggie ended her story.

How long had it been since their first day of meeting? About… two year and a half now? No one really knew for sure. But one thing was sure that it had been so long that he had totally forgotten about it until Fluggie brought it up just a few seconds ago. Now with memories having fully come back, he felt his chest tighten and his breath got stuck in his throat. To be honest, on that day, he really didn't care what she went through in her accident . He just got so relieved that he found a new inventor and tried to convince into working for him, even if it meant he had to hide the fact that his previous employee left because of his horrible abuse. He didn't even care why she was on the pavement near his mansion in the first place. All he needed was getting her to work, and he didn't believe how easy it was just by using the fact that she then had nowhere to stay. At that time, he was completely… dismissive about her well-being.

Now, he regretted it. Days by days, months by months, her entire life was just about work and getting treated badly. In fact, even he thought that she had got so sick of it she was planning on leaving. His previous inventor had told that straight to his boss's face and never returned. But she was different. She was still here, trying her best to make wonderful inventions while enduring everything he did to her. Now that he had heard her confession, he genuinely felt bad. All this time, she decided to keep staying here… because he was her savior, despite him being a total monster to human, specifically to her.

"J- Jefecito…?"

He snapped back into reality after hearing her quiet voice.

Gently snuggled herself about of his embrace, Fluggie just stood in front of him and said nothing. She fiddled with her fingers and looked down at the ground, feeling very awkward about the situation she just put herself into. She really didn't plan on telling him all of this, but… she just had to. Her own mind told her to do so, and she did as if she had no other option to hold it back. Now, she was standing in front of her very own boss in her lab in the middle of the night, neither of them having anything to say as they let the silence take over. Yeah, totally normal, right?

Feeling too uncomfortable with it, she looked away and mumbled under her breath.

"I- I have to go check on Ryan."

With that said, she attempted to catch him off guard and tried to run out of the room. But that was _not_ even close to easy, since Black Hat was not the one to be distracted just like that.

She turned to the side and took one step an inch further from her original spot. But the eldritch's eyes and senses were sharper than she thought. With a swift movement of his hands, he grabbed her by the arms and slammed her back against the work bench. She let out a small yelp and her throat immediately got stuck when she realized the position they were in. She was pinned against the work bench with her hands gripping onto it, while he had his hands on both side of her, preventing her from escaping. Now, she was completely trapped.

"We're not done yet, doctor." He said in a low voice, causing shiver to run down her spine.

"S- Sir!" She quickly protested before he even said anything else. "I- I'm so sorry if I s- said something weird or upsetting to you! Please forgive me! Please forgive me!"

She kept going on and on until she noticed his gaze. He was staring at her in silence before raising an eyebrow. "What are you going on about?"

"U- Um…" She cursed herself for making this awkward again. "I thought you… uh… were angry about something I said…"

Hearing her explanation, he felt his chest tighten, hurt as if those words were thousand of spears piercing through his heart. The realization sunk in slowly but surely in the most painful way possible - He had yelled at her, hit her, hurt her so much that it became a conditioned reflex. Whenever he got slightly serious, she got scared right away, her whole body shaking as she started pleading him to forgive her, exactly like she just did.

He let out a sigh, a sigh of pain and regret.

Once again, he shakingly wrapped his arms around her, bringing her into his warm embrace. Her heart beat more rapidly but then was eased down by the warmth of his body. Weird… Usually when she was inside his office or when he visited her lab while she was working, she could explode due to the tension between them. But now he was holding her so close their bodies were touching, and her mind surprisingly eased down.

"I said that I'm sorry, didn't I?"

She'd never heard his voice so quiet in her life. It was quiet, and hurt too. So hurt that it actually pierced through her heart. And she wasn't sure about this, but she swore that he sounded like he was holding back his tears. His breathing got heavy and he hugged her more tightly.

"I'm so sorry… that you have to endure all this… I'm so sorry…"

He continued to go on with it. He, without doubt, was trying his best to hold back his emotions. For her, she couldn't even keep her head clear when being hugged and seeing him in this state. She was speechless, but she had one thing in mind. Slowly reaching her hands up, she wrapped her arms around him and hugged him back, which totally caught him by surprise.

"Shh… Don't worry, sir. It's fine… It's fine…"

She whispered as she kept her hands on his back. He said nothing and sighed deeply. This was only a small gesture she could think of, but she secretly hoped it would be able to ease his mind even just a little bit.

"Fluggie..."

"Yes?" She asked, a little surprised that her boss spoke up, but it didn't mean that she minded. "What is it, Mr. Black Hat?"

"Can you explain this to me?"

She raised an eyebrow at that question. "Explain what, sir?"

"Well, you see..." He let out a small sigh before continuing. "Lately, I've been feeling very... strange. It's a feeling I've never experienced before."

"Tell me more." She said, still keeping her hand on his back.

"My heart... it reacts whenever I see you from afar, and it beats madly when we made contact, when you look up at me, eyes filled with passion as you go on about your newest invention."

She had to use all her strength to act natural upon feeling her heart skip a beat.

"I think about you every night..." He continued, his voice quiet but firm. "I think about the gleam in your smile, your little laugh, about the way you are always so enthusiastic, so determined... And then, there are moments I fear that you'll be taken away, that your heart will belong to someone else, that you won't be mine. I care for you even if I don't act like it, and I want to protect you at all cost..."

She gulped, slowly catching on but still wasn't sure.

"Fluggie..." He paused for a while before continuing. "What is this feeling?"

She was breathing heavily now as her heart beat so rapidly that it coulf burst out of her chest at any given moment. Her body was shaking, and she subconciously tightened her grip on him, lips agape. She wanted to deny it, to yell at herself and say that she was dreaming once again. Maybe she had gone in too deep in her fantasy - no way those words coming from him were real or meant for her. This was in no way possible, and that was what he kept trying to convince herself.

"I... I don't know, sir..." She said, voice uncertain and scared. "I don't know..."

He said nothing, but slowly took a hold on her shoulders instead. Staring deeply into her eyes, he leaned in slowly, whispering as he did.

"This is just a guess, but..."

His face was inches away from her now, and he took in a deep breath.

"I think I'm in love with you."

He said before pressing his lips to hers.

She froze at those words, but soon melted into the kiss. Those words echoed in her mind. Once again, her heart went out of her control and beat faster than ever. Her mind went all over the place and her body started to shake. He… he confessed. He just confessed to her. And this was not just any normal confession but a love confession that came from _her own boss_. I'm in love with you. Those words sound so simple, but they were enough to catch her off guard. Those words sound so simple, but they were enough to make her make her heart go wild. Those words sound so simple compared to any other love confession you could ever hear in a movie or somewhere else in real life, but they were enough to make her lose control of her own mind. She felt like she was about to explode.

Upon breaking the kiss, they both breathed heavily as they both did nothing beside staring into each other's eyes once again. He wanted to say something, but seeing her rosy lips made it irresistible not to kiss her again, which he did.

**To be continued…**


	14. I Promise

Everything inside Fluggie's head had gone out of the windows at the moment Black Hat kissed her. Instead, filling her mind up was the tenderness of the kiss and how he was holding her so… unusually like himself but oh so full of love. She remembered this feeling, it was the same at the first night they spent with each other. Their lips were in perfect synch together. And Fluggie was a little afraid admit this, but the way their tongues were battling and how Black Hat's was taking over was… tensed? That was a hard feeling to describe, really. Back in high school, she had sometimes overheard her classmates talking about French kiss and she had cringed so hard that it sent her goosebumps. But now she realized she was wrong, and she hated herself for it. French kiss was _good,_ especially with Black Hat's skills.

The way she was held by her boss made the feeling even better. His left hand was behind her head while the other one held her waist. It seemed like every second passing by, his hands just held her tighter, like he never wanted to let this moment end. Talking about him like that, she wasn't really sure if she ever wanted to end the kiss either. This guilty feeling she was having, the butterflies in her stomach… Everything was like a dream, and she was holding his shoulders as if it would make the time stop.

She suddenly jumped at the feeling of skin contact. That was when she realized his right hand had left her waist and started lifting her shirt up…

Snapping out, he quickly pushed himself off her and panted. He almost did it again. He almost let his guilty fantasy take over and repeated the same mistake. The sight before his eyes even excited him more, encouraging the fantasy to reenter his mind again. Connecting his mouth and her rosy lips was a thin string of saliva, her breath was hot, heavy and her body was full of sweats. It was good that he trained himself to resist such need, but he didn't know if he could last with her being like that in front of him…

Finally regaining his voice, he cleared his throat and found some right words to start, but mainly to break the uncomfortable silence and to make himself forget the heat in the room at all cost.

"I'm… very sorry for that…"

Okay… that didn't come out that well.

He cursed under his breath, thinking how it sounded so perfect in his head. He held his hat down, covering his face with embarrassment. This had to be added in the "Rare and unusual behaviors from Black Hat" list.

"It's… o- okay, boss… I… uh…"

Sneaking a glance at her, he saw that she seemed to be having a harder time than him. Her body was noticeably shaking, her hands were nervously fiddling together and her lips were trembling…

Her lips were trembling…

Her lips…

He stared at her lips. They were a reddish shade of pink although she never put on lipstick and they looked as soft as they felt. If only her lips were that attractive then he wondered how beautiful her whole face was. He cursed himself for thinking about that, because now he couldn't resist thinking of a way to take off her paper bag.

He took a step and saw that she didn't notice. He took another step, and she was still minding her own business inside her head. Hmm… Nice.

Fluggie finally noticed the distance between them had closed up again, and much worse, he was holding the tip of her bag. It was then she realized there was no going back for her now.

"J- Jefecito! Wait-!"

With a swift movement, he lifted the bag off and let it fly into a random direction. Where the bag went, he didn't care. All he cared about was the beautiful angel revealed right before him. Fluggie stood there motionlessly as her right-sided bang gently flowed back to its place along with her ponytail. Her long eyelashes gently flickered as her ocean blue eyes stared right into his eye. Rosy cheeks, fair skin… Everything was presented before him in a split second, and he felt butterflies slowly forming in his stomach. Those eyes… they were as attractive as her lips… and they looked as soothing as the early morning sea.

But then his eye narrowed… There was a scar on the right side of her face. A long scar that started from under her bang and down to the area in the middle of her cheeks… But he didn't mind that at all.

"P- please d- don't look…!"

Face burning with embarrassment, she quickly used her hands to cover her entire face, losing all the courage to look at him any longer. But he didn't accept it. He didn't allow that beauty to be hidden. Without any hesitation, he took her hands and moved them away from her face.

Everything was going crazy in her mind. She never had any guts to show her face to anyone, not even 5.0.5, let alone _her freaking boss_. Heart beating rapidly, face heating up, she almost felt like she could run out of breath at any second now. But then a soothing feeling run through her, calming her little heart. It was from him. His right hand was on her cheek, gently caressing it. She was surprised how she always felt safe whenever he was being caring like that. With the other hand putting on her right shoulder, he slowly leaned his face close to hers.

"You are beautiful, Fluggie." He said quietly.

"S- Sir…" She mumbled back, but unable to say anything more.

"I'm telling you, you're beautiful, and no one can deny it…" He continued, as if knowing that she was going to say she wasn't beautiful. "I can't believe that under a stupid-looking paper bag was a beauty of an angel."

"I… I…"

She rubbed her right arm with her left one, trying to find the right words to fill in the stumbling in her sentences. She looked down at the ground, saying silently.

"To tell you the truth, I'm always ashamed of my face…"

"What are you talking about? Why be ashamed when you have this kind of beauty…?"

"It's not about that, sir… It's that… I feel like people will laugh at me just by seeing me." Her voice was even quieter and it was trembling. "From when I was in primary school, I was made fun of because of the scar, the scar which I got in a car accident where I lost my parents… And as I got older, I also got made fun of and eventually bullied because of the ridiculous inventions I showed. When I got a boyfriend in the first year of high school, I thought maybe love can encourage me to try harder and make my life better. But just after a few months, he broke up with me, saying that I was boring, annoying and the terrible rumors about me in middle school had reached him. That was when I… I lost all hope and just focused on my career, thinking that it was the only thing I had to help me move on…"

Her tears had rolled down her cheeks before she even realized it, but she didn't care either way. She had exposed everything now. Her face, her past… Everything…

"I- I d- don't know why I'm t- telling you this… I'm s- so sorry for my r- rambling-"

"No more, Fluggie. No more…"

He mumbled, pulling her into a tight embrace. Weird… that warm feeling… Every time he hugged her, she no longer felt fear, as if all her worries had been washed away in a split second. It confused her how she was reacting the exact opposite to the way she used to. She was still wondering about that. But then again, being in that warm feeling he was giving her was enough to sooth her back into calmness, easing her mind to peace.

Suddenly, sobbing was heard again. Black Hat jumped and looked down at the little woman. She was cleansing his shoulders, tears soaking his shirt.

"P- Please… don't leave me like the others did…"

"Fluggie…?"

"I realized it just now… that you are the only one left to be there for me… I- I love you… Please sir… Even if there will be one day you stop loving me, just promise me that you won't abandon me…! I just need someone to rely on, please! Or else… I- I don't know if I can keep up with my life anymore! My whole life has been a big mess… and… and…"

"Fluggie…"

He hugged her tightly to his chest, cutting her off.

"I… I…"

Once again, he found it hard to express his emotions. He stumbled upon his words, trying his damn best and even got a little frustrated at finding the right word without accidentally hurting her feelings. But as he heard her sobbing quieting down and her heart slowing down to its normal pace, he realized that he should be happy. He should be happy that he and she shared the same feelings. Maybe because of her, he could become a better man and overcome obstacles together. Yeah… that's what true love is. He sighed quietly and smiled, gently reaching down one hand to hold her.

"I promise, Fluggie. I promise I will treat you nicely just like a boyfriend should and will never leave your side. I promise."


	15. Father

Rise and shine. Another bright new day had arrived at Black Hat Organization. Through the velvet curtain, sunlight shone with a soft color, filling the room with its brightness and warmth.

Being hit by the warm light, Black Hat let out a small groan before slowly opening up his eyes. Once again, he was greeted by the light, and although it was still too bright for his early morning eyes, his body found it very pleasant. The light warmed his body through the sheets, making it quite impossible to get up. Trying to fight the urge to stay in his bed, he slowly pushed himself up by his elbows and sat up, stretching his arms and feeling the satisfaction of it. With a snap of his fingers, the curtains swiped to the sides by themselves and revealed the glass walls behind them, letting the light come into the room fully. The room became even brighter and the redness of the walls seemed to make the whole room more enhanced than ever.

Black Hat looked outside. As expected, it sure was a beautiful day with the clear blue sky, white fluffy cloud and birds dancing with the butterflies.

Once he was fully awake, he got out of bed, washed his face and took a nice shower in the bathroom. After that, he walked toward his closet, which was made from the reddish brown, most expensive and rare kind of wood and was placed at the opposite wall to his bed. One by one, he took off his pajama and put on his iconic outfit, standing in front of the big mirror next to the closet to properly fix his tie. Finally, he took one top hat from his collection and put it on his head. You could say that he was looking fine and dandy, and was ready to start a new day-

"Wait…"

He narrowed his eyes as he looked closer at his hat collection, which consisted of exactly five top hats that look exactly the same, including the one he was wearing. Something was missing, he was definitely sure of it. He was Black Hat anyway, and Black Hat never dares let a small detail slip through his keen eye.

After a good few seconds, he finally spotted it. A top hat wasn't there. His collection was missing one hat. He was sure there were five of them the last time he checked, which was last night. If he couldn't find any explanation, he wouldn't be very happy with it. He couldn't accept it. Looking at a collection which was missing one single part is one of the most irritating sights in the world, and he was certain that everyone felt the same.

While struggling with frustration, he heard something from behind him. It was a sudden and soft thud of something light, as if it just fell or walked into something else. A normal human would freak out over it easily, but not for Black Hat, because he had his own unique tactic that he had developed through real life experiences. He calmly glanced over to the left side then to the right. Nothing was in sight. As gentle and quiet as he could be, he turned his head back for a quick look and fully turned his whole body back. Nothing either.

After exactly one minute of scanning the room, he finally decided to dismiss it until it sounded again. He perked his head up and took a careful look around once more. The same sound was heard. His eye swiftly glanced at its direction as soon as he detected it. And there the cause was, behind the curtain which was transparent because of the sunlight, making it not a very good place to hide.

'Think you are stealthy?' He thought to himself as he grinned.

Slowly with absolutely quiet steps, he crept up on it until he reached its hiding place without alerting it. He grabbed the curtain and lifted it up with a swift move, ready to declare that it was busted...

… until he saw who it was.

Staring up at him was a little boy with two black orbs deep as a midnight sky. The little one had a startled expression due to the curtain's sudden movement. His tiny feet tried to stay still on the floor as his small hands gripped the familiar top hat which was too big for him and would have covered half of his face if he hadn't tried to hold it up. They stared at each other in silence, the boy's hair softly fluttered along with his body as he tried his best to stay balanced.

"Ryan…?" Black Hat asked in surprise, not expecting the boy's presence.

All Ryan did was stare at him back and continued trying to balance his little body. Black Hat didn't question why he had his hat, or question his presence, or get angry at him, _or_ even say anything at all. He felt… warm. Even before he discovered that Ryan was his own son, he kind of had a soft side for this little baby, although he really didn't know why. He tried to deny the fact that he liked it when he heard Ryan's laughter and got concerned when Ryan cried, which was why he secretly hated himself at that time. But now that he knew the boy was his first child, he developed more feelings toward him.

You could describe those feelings as "fatherly".

Black Hat did have a hard time accepting this reality. Well, he is the fearless Black Hat who is well-known for his unstoppable power, his intelligent and his cruelty. He once said "A true villain never needs a family" and had only one goal in life, which was to take over the world.

But now, he couldn't get the image of a woman out of his head. He forgot everything else and all he wanted was to claim her as his own, which he did. He had spent nights thinking about her, their relationship, her happiness, his feelings and obsession towards her and how he could make her happy. He had spent nights with a broken heart, thinking that she was taken away forever. But in the present, it was like reality was turned, where she was his and he had a child of his own, a child who he once never dared think of having.

"S… S…"

A small and soft voice snapped the demon back into reality. Looking down, he saw that Ryan had taken off the hat and had put it on the floor but was still holding onto it. The little boy had his head downward, small lips mumbling something. Black Hat raised an eyebrow, but decided not to push him like he normally would with other people. It was rather a cute sight, so he didn't want to ruin it.

And yes, never did he think that he would describe something as "cute".

"S… So… Sowwy…"

Ryan finally managed to get the word out of his mouth as he glanced up at Black Hat, pushing the hat forward. Black Hat finally got the word through his head after a few seconds processing. The word sounded so simple and incorrectly spelt, but it sounded so precious to him. He didn't know if it was because this was new to him, or because Ryan was his son, or it was both of those reasons. Maybe the third one was the answer, Black Hat thought. Ryan still stood there, gripping his white long-sleeved tee shirt while still looking apologetic.

Unable to help it, Black Hat reached out one hand and patted his son's tiny head as gently as possible, catching Ryan by surprise as the little one looked up at him with his bright eyes. He felt the softness of the baby's hair and sighed, showing a small smile as he looked down at him. He honestly couldn't think of anything to say at the moment, since he hadn't talked with a baby before and he didn't want to accidentally scare him, so this was the best he could do.

Ryan stared at the tall figure which was kneeling in front of him. He should be scared right now due to the size difference and the fact that he was caught red-handed. But he felt the opposite. Any child that had to live in the same household as a scary demon like Black Hat would surely be scared all the time, but he wasn't. Although he rarely had a chance to be with Black Hat, he felt a connection between them.

When he was around Black Hat, he felt loved and protected.

"T… Th…"

Trying to make out words, Ryan carefully took small steps toward Black Hat. Once he was finally next to Black Hat's leg, he stopped, raising his tiny hands and gripped onto the rough fabric of the demon's suit. Using the eldritch's left leg as a place to support himself, Ryan continued to form the sentence between stutters.

"Th… Th… Than…"

Black Hat stayed still, listening attentively like a baby's stuttering was the most beautiful thing ever.

"Than… Thang… ki… Thang kiu…"

He did it. He finally did it. He finally said the words out. He giggled, excited by his success.

"Thang kiu! Thang kiu!"

Ryan repeatedly said the words in pure happiness. Meanwhile, Black Hat just stayed there, confused but happy at the same time. What was he thankful for? For not yelling at him? For forgiving him? For showing him gentleness? No matter what the reason was, he felt… happy. Seeing his son being so cheerful, finding out that he could calm a little boy down and comfort him… they were all the reason behind his happiness.

"Ryan, are you there?"

It was until then that Black hat realized there were footsteps coming toward his room along with a woman's voice. He turned back to see that Fluggie had got to the edge of the door.

"Thank goodness, I've been looking for you, Ryan. I thought you were playing in your room-"

Fluggie cut herself off when she was at the door and opened it, having a full view into the room. She was quite shocked at first, but quickly relaxed. She stepped further into the room, took off her paper bag while a heart-warming smile was seen on her face.

"Good morning sir."

Black Hat slightly jumped at the sudden smile and her greeting at him. He could feel his heart beating fast in his chest. Seeing her face without the paper bag was fascinating enough for him. But her genuine smile and the affection coming from it were seriously killing him. It had been four days since they confessed to each other and he wasn't sure if he could easily get used to the affection she was giving him.

Without saying more, she slowly walked toward the other two and knelt down beside him. Ryan didn't move away from his spot with his hands on Black Hat's leg, as if not wanting to let him go. Looking at Ryan lovingly, she stroked his hair before speaking again, breaking the silence.

"Well, I guess it's time."

Black Hat looked at her in confusion, but decided not to raise questions. Fluggie would surely tell him about now.

Finishing her sentence, she straightened up her body but kept her loving gaze on the little boy. She took a deep breath and smiled at Ryan as she put her left hand on her chest.

"Mama."

"Mama." Ryan repeated without any trouble. He had been saying it since the day he first learned how to talk, after all.

Calming her fast beating heart, she took another deep breath and raised her left hand to put it on Black Hat's shoulder.

"Dada."

Black Hat's eye widened, catching up with what was going on, what Fluggie was trying to tell Ryan. His heartbeat increased upon realizing it.

"Dada. Dada." Fluggie kept repeating the word as Ryan stared at her, trying to keep it in his memory. "Dada. Dada."

"D… D…" Ryan spoke up, trying to say the new word, his little lips trying to adapt and cooperate. "D… Da… Dada!"

It was that moment when everything around Black Hat froze in place. The clock had stopped working, the wind outside had stopped blowing, the birds and the butterflies had stopped dancing… His heartbeat increased even more, as if it was going to explode. His hands were shaking as dark orbs stared up at him, saying the most precious word ever. Dada… Dada… He repeated those words in his head as if trying to keep this wonderful moment in his mind forever for as long as he lived. Ryan's voice kept ringing in the deepest place in his mind, not letting go of his mind and his heart. He was completely speechless as if he had forgotten how to talk and his eyes were on the verge of crying. But even if he did end up crying, it was all worth it. Because those tears were the tears of happiness. The happiness of finally being seen as a father.

"Dada… Dada…"

The sudden voice once again snapped him out, bringing him back into reality. Ryan has put his hands on his, repeating the new word. He brought his arms around the little boy, trying to speak properly without being overwhelmed with emotion.

"Yes… I'm here for you, Ryan…"


	16. Family Meeting (Part I)

"Oh my devil, not this _fucking_ shit again."

Fluggie looked up at Black Hat confusedly upon seeing him groaned. They were in her lab, planning about the new weapon she just came up with. They were in the middle of the discussion when a flow of blue magic appeared right in front of Black Hat and transformed into a letter. He opened it, scanned through its content and face-palmed, cursing loudly.

He'd been very careful with his words lately, because he was genuinely worried that it might affect his son, which made Fluggie quite surprised.

So when he cursed so bluntly, you knew he had had it.

"What is it, sir?" She asked.

"It's my brother." He removed his hand from his face and sighed. "He just sent me a letter, saying that he and my parents were coming to visit me next week."

The more she heard, the more she got confused.

"… Brother?"

"Twin brother, to be exact, and he's the younger one." He said, burning the letter with his magic. "And believe me, he's _super_ annoying. Who uses letters nowadays anyway? It's the freaking 21st century."

"You don't like him?"

"Well, not really…" He trailed off, looking away for a few seconds. "We're family, so it's common for us to have moments where we get along well. But sometimes… he just makes me pissed so much, as well as my parents."

"If it's just sometimes, then I'm sure you'll have lots of great time, honey, so don't worry."

"… Hmm… I don't know, really-"

He cut himself off when he repeated her words in his head, his eyes changed from narrow to widely open.

"Wait, what did you just call me?"

"Honey?"

"Please…" He groaned. "Don't ever, _ever,_ use that word again, okay?"

"Why?" She giggled. "It's cute."

"No it's not." He had a blank expression and a frown. "And it's making me cringe all over."

"Haha, okay then, _bae."_

"FLUGGIE!"

"That's my Black Hat." She couldn't help but laugh. "Alright alright, I'll stop, for real this time."

Black Hat waited for a few seconds to see if she was going to add in any word to annoy him, and he officially confirmed that she'd really stopped.

"Just don't worry about your family coming over too much, sir. I'm sure everything will go smoothly. "

She smiled. Black Hat looked at her and didn't say a word. It'd been a long while ever since she was comfortable being around him without her paper bag on, and it had been only just him who she was willing to show her face to. Honestly, he'd gotten so used to her face that he forgot how stunned he felt whenever she took off her bag and showed him her beauty, especially when she had that angelic smile.

"Besides…" She continued. "It's next week, so you still have a lot of time until Monday comes, right?"

"Fluggie, today's Sunday."

…

…

"Oh."

Welp, way to ruin the mood.

* * *

"What are ya doing, Blacky?"

No answer.

"What are ya doing, Blacky?"

No answer.

"What are ya doing, Blacky?"

No answer.

"What are y-"

"Gosh, can you shut the _fuck_ up for, like, ten seconds?!"

Black Hat and Demencia continued walking down the hall in completely silence until exactly ten seconds passed.

"What are ya doing, Blacky?"

A groan was heard… following by the sound of the doorbell.

With a swift move, Demencia got ready and ran toward the door. But she indeed… wasn't as fast as Black Hat, so before she could run any further than him, he caught and trapped her in his tentacle.

"I can handle it myself, Demencia. No need to make people freaked out."

He walked downstairs very quickly and he was in front of the front door in no time while keeping Demencia still seemingly with no effort at all. Without touching the doorknob, he moved his hand to the right, using his magic to open the door when he was still pretty far away from it.

But when he hadn't got a chance to see who it was first, he was almost knocked over when something white wrapped him tightly, making him drop the lizard girl onto the floor with a loud thud.

Upon closer inspection, he groaned loudly.

"White… Get. The _hell._ Off me!"

"Oh come on, brother. I miss you!"

"Not when you're literally choking me to death!"

"It's called a hug!"

"Just get off me, okay?! Don't you know the definition of personal space?"

"But Black, we bathed together when we were little-"

" _WHITE!_ "

"Okay okay, jeez."

Black Hat breathed heavily once he was released. He looked at the smirk of the other demon and frowned in annoyance. That demon looked exactly like him, had the exactly same skin color, dressed in the same suit and hat but with the white and blue color scheme. Black always wondered what made them so opposite in personality, despite Black being just a few minutes older than him. And like Black mentioned, that demon never knew what personal space was.

"I see that you never change, White." Black Hat straightened himself.

"You too, Black." White Hat chuckled. "Just the same old you."

"Black!"

A woman's voice was heard, and Black Hat turned to look at her. Her wavy light-silver hair, which reached the middle of her back, flowed softly as she ran up to her two sons. As always like Black Hat remembered, she was wearing an elegant dress that reached the floor, but the dress has a dark violet color this time. Underneath the dress was a white, high-collared, long-sleeved blouse with a dark violet emerald embed at the collar.

"We're so happy to see you!" Black's mother smiled happily. "It's been so long! And you've grown up so quickly!"

"It's just been 40 years since our last visit, Emerald." A man spoke up behind her while their suitcases floated in with his magic. "He probably hasn't changed _that_ much."

The man was dressed in a black suit and crimson red shirt underneath, quite similar to Black Hat. On his head are two big horns, and he had more eyes, four on his face and one on his forehead. A pocket watch was hung at his belt by its gold chain.

"But Zairus, he's still my baby boy!" Emerald said, holding Black Hat's arm.

"He's an adult already. Both of them, actually." Zairus sighed. "He can take care of himself."

"Long time no see, Mom and Dad." Black Hat said. "How are things with you?"

"Well, it's been good. Nothing seriously bad happened. Me and your Mom are just going through our days like normal." He looked around for a few seconds before speaking up again. "How about you and your organization?"

"Everything has been going quite… smoothly." Black Hat scratched his neck. "There have been ups and downs, but it's still okay."

"That's good to hear, then." Zairus said, and Emerald nodded while looking at Black.

"Oh man, I'm gonna have _so_ much fun with you in this week!" White opened his arms and went for a hug, but Black moved asides, letting his twin almost hitting the floor.

Black Hat watched White Hat trying to straighten himself up, not bothering to help him. "… Did you say 'this week'?"

"Yep! The whoooooole week!" White exclaimed. "I can't wait to spend time with you, brother!"

Black was mentally telling a non-existing person to kill him right then.

"Lighten up, Black." Emerald patted Black's shoulder. "Sometimes, you've got to loosen up and do something other than work, you know."

"Yeah… maybe you're right, Mom." He trailed off.

"Hoo a yu?"

A different voice spoke up, making all of them quiet and looked down. Behind Black Hat was a little dark-haired boy who was gripping Black's cape tightly.

Black Hat was mentally yelling 'No no no no'.

All of them, except for Black, stared at Ryan in pure surprise. The little half-demon boy did the same, but slowly hid himself behind his Dad upon being scared of the attention everyone was giving him.

"Hi there, little one." Emerald sat down in front of him, extending her hand out gently. "What's your name."

"R- Ry…" He struggled with his word. "… Ryan…"

"Ryan? That's a very cute name." She smiled. "I'm Emerald Hat. Nice to meet you."

Ryan stared at her hand and then at her gentle smile. He slowly took her hand and bravely stepped out. She held both his hand and chuckled.

"You're so adorable. You kind of remind me of Black Hat…"

Those words made Black Hat gulped and sweated like a rainfall.

She patted his head and caressing his cheeks. "Where are your parents?"

"Um… uh…"

'Please no Ryan' was what Black Hat was mentally telling his son.

"My Da- Dada is-"

"Ryan, where are you?!"

Fluggie's voice sounded from afar, stopping Ryan from saying anything more, which saved Black Hat. From across the hall, they could hear someone's rapid footsteps.

"Ryan! We have guests to welcome-"

Fluggie cut herself off when she saw everyone and revealed herself as she took the left turning of the hallway.

**To be continued…**


	17. Family Meeting (Part II)

Fluggie stared at the family as they stared at her back.

No word could describe how uncomfortable the silence was. Everyone was motionless, completely motionless. It'd been just a few seconds, but it felt like an eternity. Fluggie did not know how to get out of this awkward situation without messing up. They were Black Hat's parents, not just some regular customers she usually met. They were her boss and boyfriend's family, for God's sake. She was always that awkward type of girl that couldn't know how to act when meeting someone so suddenly. But even if it wasn't sudden, it was still too much for her to handle. From when she was still in high school, she always wondered how it felt like to meet her partner's parents, but since she'd lost all hope, she didn't really bother about it because she knew no one would love her for that to even happen. But she was wrong, because here she was, standing right in front of his parents.

In her mind, she was thankful that she always had her paper bag over her face whenever she was outside her lab or her room.

"Mama!"

Ryan rushed to her, finally breaking the silence. He held her leg tightly and she knelt down, rubbing his head.

"Ryan, where have you been? I told you to stay in your room."

"I'm… sowwy…"

"Oh, hello there, miss."

Before Fluggie could reply to her son, a gentlemanly voice spoke up. Then, the clicking sound of the heels was heard as White Hat walked toward Fluggie in a royalty manner. He had his hands behind his back as he kept on his face a friendly smile. Fluggie was speechless as he stood in front of her and gently held her hand.

"I've never seen you before."

Usually, Black Hat would just roll his eyes and let out an unimpressed sigh as he let his brother be a total gentleman to every new lady he met…

"Allow me to introduce myself. I'm White Hat. Nice to meet you."

… but not today.

Before White could bring Fluggie's hand up and give it a light kiss, he stopped in his track as he felt something. He could sense it, a very dark, scary but familiar vibe. He knew what it was, and where it was coming from. From when they were very little, whenever Black Hat was arguing with him, like when they were fighting over a toy, Black would let out this exact vibe to scare him off. White had become so used to this vibe that he'd immediately know when he felt it.

Stealthily glancing at Black without moving his head, White smirked lightly before letting go of Fluggie's hand. He bowed down instead to greet a lady properly.

"Umm- Uh- I-" Fluggie stuttered as she tried to collect her words, rubbing her hand that was just held by White. "N- Nice to meet you too! I'm Dr. Fluggie Slys, B- Black Hat's employee."

"Black's employee?" Zairus raised an eyebrow. "But I still remember that his employee is a man, or am I mistaken?"

"Oh yeah, forgot to tell you." Black turned to his father. "About ten years after you last visit, he quitted. So I had her replace his position to keep the organization running."

"Oh, I see." Zairus said, nodding. "How did you meet her? Like, did you put up a notice or something?"

"Well… it's a very long story, so… maybe later, Dad."

Truthfully, Black Hat could just tell his parents right from the bat, but he decided against it. He knew Fluggie didn't want to be reminded of that disaster, especially in front of his family. He had trained himself to take her emotion into account, and Fluggie was thankful for that.

"I- It's a huge pleasure to meet you all." Fluggie spoke up, drawing the family's attention to her. "I'm sorry for suddenly interrupting your conversation with my boss like that. And sorry if my son caused you any trouble."

"Oh, it's okay, dear." Emerald smiled, walking up to Fluggie and bent her body down to pat Ryan's head. "He's a very good boy. You said he was your son, so you're his mother, right?"

"Y- Yes. His name is Ryan, and he's one year old now."

"So, you work for Black Hat…" Emerald stopped for a second before continuing. "How long had you been working for him?"

"Well, he hired me when I was nineteen, and now I'm twenty-five, so that means… six years."

"It's been a pretty long time, then. Black Hat always knows when a person has talent, so you must be very trust-worthy and talented for him to choose you." Emerald chuckled. "You have a child, so do you live with someone else, like a husband or boyfriend?"

Fluggie suddenly went silent for a short while before speaking up again. "I live here with my boss, Mrs. Hat. Ryan's Dad left me."

Emerald gasped as she held up her hand to cover her mouth. "O- Oh my god, I'm- I'm extremely sorry for asking…!"

"No no, it's okay! You don't need to apologize!" Fluggie reassured her as she held up her hands. "It was a long time ago, and… yeah, everything's fine now."

"That's good to hear then." Emerald let out a sigh. "That must have been rough, huh?"

As the two women continued their conversation, Black kept his gaze on Fluggie. What Fluggie said really hit his heart. Until this day, he was still impressed by how Fluggie was able to manage her pregnancy and take care of Ryan while working. It was a lot of hard work being a single mother and an inventor at the same time. She was a very strong woman who was able to endure her past, his abuse and all the work of being a parent on her own. He wished he had known sooner so that he could do something to help her and take away all her worries. But it was a little too late now, so he tried his best to make her happy everyday. He felt that it was the best he could do.

* * *

"Thanks, 5.0.5."

Fluggie said as she took the stack of dirty dishes the blue bear gave her. Everyone just finished dinner and 5.0.5 was helping her cleaning up, along with Demencia. They rarely let Demencia help with cleaning because they were afraid she'd mess everything up and ruin all the things. But today, she insisted so much that she let her stay to help. Luckily, she'd been very careful, which Fluggie was grateful for. Fluggie herself didn't join dinner with others that often due to the amount of work she had to finish. But since she had guests, she tried to make up some times to spend with them.

It'd been three day since Black Hat's parents arrived along with his brother. Having more people in the mansion was a little strange for Fluggie, because she was so used to living only with Black Hat, Demencia and 5.0.5. But it wasn't bad, to be honest. It definitely was a bit noisier than usual, but she didn't hate it. It was even a pretty nice change. She and Black Hat's parents had been on a good term, and they'd been very nice to her, so having conversations with them was very comfortable, even though there were some pretty awkward moments that would occasionally sneak in.

About White Hat… he's been very friendly to her as well, but she didn't get that many opportunities to talk to him that often. Why? Because… well, Black Hat. Sometimes when White was caught being too friendly with her, Black would step in and even pulled her away. He really didn't enjoy seeing her being too close to his brother.

And Black Hat really wasn't lying when he said he and his twin rarely got along. Every time they talked to each other, White would say something that annoyed Black, he'd sometimes tease him and tell such a stupid pun that Black would face-palm and groan. White, on the other hand, was amused. That man really was the complete opposite to Black, because he was always so cheerful and enjoyed teasing his brother. Honestly, it was Black's agony, but Fluggie… kind of liked seeing them like it. She'd secretly giggle when Black groaned into his hand in a very annoyed manner.

"All done." Fluggie said as she put the last dish on the rack. "Thanks for your help, both of you."

"No prob!" Demencia beamed happily before frowning immediately. "But now I'm bored. What to do…"

She thought for a while before turning to the others. "Hey! There's this really awesome movie on Netflix that I just found. How about we watch it together?"

"Oh, that sounds like a great idea!" White said, smiling. "Mom, Dad, what do you think?"

"Of course!" Emerald clapped her hands together. "It's been a while since we last had a movie night together. It'll be great!"

"You coming, Fluggie?" Demencia asked.

Fluggie shook her head. "I'm sorry, but I can't. I have works to do."

"You're so hard-working, Fluggie. I always see you working non-stop." Emerald said, putting one hand on her cheek as the other hand crossed over her chest. "Come on, join us and give yourself a break. I'm sure you'll have a good time."

"Thank you for your care, but I really can't go, Mrs. Hat." Fluggie smiled apologetically. "I have certain deadlines to meet, and I'm used to working like this anyway. Have a great night!"

Fluggie waved goodbye as she walked past everyone, heading to her lab. But before she could fully leave the room, Black Hat's voice spoke up in a deep tone.

"Why are you leaving so soon, _honey?_ "

**To be continued…**


	18. Family Meeting (Part III)

Thump… Thump…

Fluggie felt like everything around here had stopped working.

As soon as Black hat emphasized the word "honey", everyone fell into silence. The cheerful, chipper atmosphere had completely disappeared, leaving everyone with just pure silence. Fluggie stopped herself on her track and just stood still there like a statue. Her heartbeat increased as she felt everyone's stare on her, especially her partner's. But she didn't dare to turn back. She really couldn't bring herself to look at them. She didn't want to know how they were looking at them. They were Black Hat's parents, for god's sake! Sure, they'd been very nice to her, but she knew in her mind that Black's words could completely change how they looked at her.

They could accept that she was his employee, no problem. But could they really accept that she was also his _girlfriend_?

That was the question Fluggie was always afraid to find out ever since Black Hat's parents arrived. Black Hat was rich and infamous, and his parents seemed to be equally wealthy. It wouldn't be surprising if his parents wanted him to marry an elite lady coming from a rich family. And there was she, a normal human with no special power who happened to survive a plane crash and got into a relationship with her own boss. She wouldn't blame the Hat if they yelled at her, which should happen any second now…

"H- Honey…?" Yep, it was Emerald's voice. "Is- Is that what you just… called her…?"

Black Hat was silent for a while before answering.

"Yes, Mother."

"B- But…" Emerald really was trying her best not to stutter too much. "I thought you said she was y- your employee…"

"Yes, I did say that. And also yes, she's still working for me…" Black Hat paused for a moment before continuing. "B- But- I- We-"

Black Hat struggled with his words, trying his best to properly form a sentence. It was very hard for him to talk right now, and he rarely stumbled on his words. It'd actually been a very long time since Fluggie saw him stutter like this, ever since the day they finally confessed about their true feelings for each other.

"We- We're also… in a relationship…"

He said the words, and went silent once again. This was really becoming very awkward, and Fluggie bit her lips, not knowing how to handle this situation.

"In a relationship…" Emerald tried to collect her words. "You mean… as in, you two are more than boss and employee?"

"… Yes."

Black Hat kept giving out short answer, avoiding saying anything stupid. He could feel his parents' gaze on him.

"So… I was right, huh?"

Black Hat widened his eye when he heard someone else's voice instead of Emerald's. He turned his head and spotted White Hat's smile, but it wasn't the smile White normally had. This smile of him… it was different. It was more… mature, not like his childish and innocent smirk he always had on his face. It looked like he knew more than what Black Hat had been saying, and that scared Black a little.

"What do you mean, White?"

Black eyed him carefully as White let out a chuckle.

"I'm sure you've been noticing that I don't look as surprised as Mom and Dad here."

He was right. Emerald had a dumbfound look on her face with her mouth still agape, and Zairus was clearly speechless the whole time. But White, he looked calm, very unusually calm. Normally, Black would expect a long gasp, an ear-raping screech of happiness or an extremely tight hug from White when Black announced something new and exciting. But if White appeared to be _that_ calm, then Black honestly felt like something was wrong.

"You didn't answer my question, White."

"Haha, you're so impatient, brother." White let out a light laugh while Black narrowed his eye, staring straight at him. "The truth is, I've been wondering about your true relationship with Fluggie for quite a while. I mean, you're… how do I say it… a little _too_ overprotective over her."

Black Hat gripped his hand as White's words hit him right in the spot. He'd honestly tried his best not to make it look obvious, but he just couldn't help it. A different man touching Fluggie was seriously an itch to his eye. It was even worse when that different man was his own twin brother. The way her slender hand was caressed so gently by another man, it just made his blood boil. Black Hat had claimed her, and she was his. No one should ever dare touch his precious one, not even her hand or just a strand of her hair. He was never ever this obsessive over any woman, but here he was, worrying about his own brother getting too close to his doctor.

Black stayed quiet, letting White continue.

"But honestly, despite being suspicious about your behaviors, I didn't think that Fluggie _was_ really your girlfriend…"

White paused for a long while before a smirk on his face was seen.

"… until your _son_ gave it away."

Black's eye widened, and Fluggie's heart skipped a beat. White was honestly scaring both of them, and now they were even more frightened when he knew more than he was supposed to know. First, he knew about their relationship. And now, he even knew that they had a _son_. He might seem and act like a kid, but now Fluggie finally realized that he wasn't completely carefree like a child. He knew how to notice and observe details.

"His… son?" Zairus finally spoke up after being completely quiet the whole time. "D- Don't you mean…"

"Yes, it's this little fella right here."

White said as he walked over Ryan, who was being held by 5.0.5. He gently patted Ryan's head as the little boy looked up at him curiously.

"R- Ryan…?" Fluggie finally took all her courage to turn her whole body back and spoke up. "H- How…?"

White smiled, looking at Fluggie. "Well, they always say kids are so innocent that they're brutally honest."

"I… I don't understand…" Fluggie's voice was so quiet, it almost sounded like a whisper.

"Haha, it seemed like you're still confused, Miss Slys." White Hat chuckled. "It was just two days ago. I was walking down the hall, alone, when I heard Ryan's voice sounded from afar as he ran towards me, calling 'Dada' non-stop."

Everyone was silent as they all listened to the story.

"When he finally caught up with me, I turned around and was about to ask what he needed me for. But I didn't have a chance to answer, because his response made me very surprised. Do you know what he said?"

White turned to look at the couple, and neither Black Hat nor Fluggie answered as Fluggie had her gaze glued to the floor. Receiving no answer, White chuckled.

"He said 'Dada, why are you wearing white clothes today?'"

Fluggie was honestly sweating like a waterfall, and she felt droplets of sweats rolling down to her chin.

"So…" White continued, paying close attention to the couple's expressions and reactions. "I said that I wasn't his Dada, but he kept denying, claiming that I was his father. It was a few minutes later that he looked closely to my face and realized that I wasn't the one he was looking for. He then said sorry… before telling me 'You look like my Dada'."

Well, there was definitely no denying that Ryan had exposed his parents beforehand.

"Black, we're twin brothers, you know that, right?" White turned to Black. "That means we look exactly alike. So if a child mistakes me for his parent, then it doesn't take me long to pin point who his father is."

Black gripped his hand, staring straight at White. He'd definitely underestimated his twin when he said that he was too carefree.

"You're right, White." Black Hat let out a sigh. "Ryan's my son, my _blood_ son."

"So… does that mean you two have had sex?"

Demencia's voice snapped Fluggie out of her thoughts. It wasn't because of how Demencia said that so nonchalantly and ruined the mood. Fluggie completely forgot that the lizard girl was in the same room right now, and that scared her to no end. Demencia had always been known as a crazy fangirl who loved Black Hat _too_ much. When Fluggie first came here, she was a little scared at how crazy Demencia was, but got used to it after a while. But ever since she got together with Black Hat, there was a new fear that she had. It was the fear of letting Demencia know about their romantic relationship. Fluggie honestly didn't want to know how Demencia would react. I mean, she was mentally unstable already, and the news would be too much for her to handle.

"D- Demencia!" Fluggie's voice was shaking. "I- I-"

"What's the matter, Fluggie?"

Fluggie was dumbfounded at how Demencia was acting.

"W- Why do you look so… _calm_?"

"What do you mean?" Demencia raised an eyebrow at Fluggie before realizing what the doctor was implying. "Oh, are ya asking why I'm not being crazy upon hearing this news?"

Fluggie didn't know what to do other than nodding her head.

"Well, to be honest with you…" Demencia looked to a different direction before continuing. "I… kind of gave up on Black Hat a very long while ago, possibly two years or more."

Fluggie's mouth was agape, as well as Black Hat's. None of them could believe those words were coming from a crazy girl like Demencia. Where did that energy go? Where did that calm attitude come from? Was that even Demencia anymore?!

"D- Demencia…" Black Hat spoke up. "This is not a joke. I'm seriously in a relationship with Fluggie."

"You told me already, Blacky." Demencia still had that calm voice that was freaking Fluggie out. "A few years ago, I suddenly have this thought that told me you were never going to love me back, no matter how hard I tried."

Demencia let out a sigh.

"Well, yeah, I did struggle _a lot_ when I had that thought. I just… couldn't believe it, you know." Demencia paused for a few seconds. "It honestly was a very long story. But after a very long while, I could finally calm down and accept it."

"D- Demencia…"

"Nah, no need to worry about it, Fluggie." Demencia smiled, showing her fang as she waved her hand. "It was a long time ago. And yes, I still tease Black a lot, but it's just because I like to, not because I still have any lingering feelings."

Fluggie put her hands on her chest, feeling her heart beating loudly. She gulped as she nodded at the lizard girl.

"D- Demencia…" Fluggie's voice was shaking. "T- Thank you…"

"Now, enough of me." Demencia tilted her head over to the side. "You should probably say something to the Hat here."

Oh god, that's right. Talking with Demencia made Fluggie and Black Hat completely forgot about the two parents who were still speechless and surprised about this whole thing. Black Hat bit his lips before walking over Fluggie.

"Mom, Dad…" He gripped Fluggie's shoulders tightly, keeping her close to his side. "Please! You can yell at me all you want, but I'm never leaving her. She taught me what love is, she's the love of my life, and I don't know what I'll do if I'm not allowed to be with her!"

Black Hat was clearly exhausted after he poured his feelings out to his parents. He was breathing heavily, but his grip on Fluggie's shoulders was still as tight. Fluggie was seriously stunned when she heard his words, as well as Emerald and Zairus. She always knew that Black Hat loved her, but she really didn't know he loved her to the point that she was the only one he could love. Heat rushed to her cheeks as she felt his grip tightened.

"Black…"

Emerald mumbled quietly as she eyed her son and his beloved woman. Fluggie was very nervous as she waited for Emerald's response, but her heart calmed down when she saw something. A smile, it was a very warm smile that appeared on Emerald's face. Fluggie had already thought that Emerald was a very beautiful woman, but she was even more beautiful when she had that gorgeous and gentle smile. Emerald slowly walked toward Black Hat until she was in front of him.

"Black, what are you talking about?" Emerald smiled as she held his shoulder. "I couldn't be happier to hear those words from you."

"M- Mom…" Black mumbled out.

"I'm so glad to know that you've finally found your soulmate." She said as she still had that gentle look in her eyes. "You always look so cold and have never developed romantic feelings toward anyone you meet before. I actually thought you'd never be able to love someone, but I guess I was wrong."

Fluggie's heart skipped a beat when Emerald turned to her and held her hand. "Fluggie, I can never thank you enough. Black is lucky to have you in his life. You're such a nice and hard-working person, and more importantly, you showed him what love is, which is very incredible."

"M- Mrs. Hat, I- I don't think what I did is a lot-"

"Yes, it is a lot, Fluggie." She turned back to look at Zairus. "Right, dear?"

"H- Huh?" Emerald's words seemed to snap him out of Zairus's thoughts. He seemed to be so shocked that he completely forgot about his surroundings. "A- Ah, yes, yes it is."

"T- Thank you so much, Mrs. Hat…" Fluggie mumbled. "I appreciate it."

"No need to thank me, Fluggie. I should be the one thanking you." Emerald chuckled. "Now, tell me, Fluggie. How did you and Black meet? I'm very eager to hear it."

"And show your face, too!" Demencia beamed. "I'm sure you have to take off that bag when you two are having se-"

"Demencia, don't you have any filter?!" Black Hat cut her off. "And I don't think Fluggie's comfortable to-"

"It's okay, Black Hat." Fluggie cut him off, gently placing her hand to his shoulder. "It's your family, so I'm not afraid."

Black Hat looked at her for a while before letting out a small sigh of relief.

That night, everyone completely forgot about the movie as they sat down and listened to Fluggie's story, with her paper bag off.


	19. Revisiting Memories

It was late at night. Many people found this time of the day pleasant, and so did Black Hat.

Black Hat looked outside through the glass walls in his bedchamber. It was like his mood change when he was all by himself, all alone in the night. Normally, even if he didn't want to, there would be at lease one thing that made him so angry that his screech could be heard in the range of a thousand miles radius, like when Demencia broke something that she wasn't supposed to break. But now, Fluggie was in her lab working quietly, Demencia and 5.0.5 had gone to bed, his parents and brother had returned to their places two weeks ago, so he just sat stood there silently with his hands behind his back. He looked calm, relaxed and peaceful, unlike what people usually saw, especially the ones living under the same roof as him.

The view here was always beautiful with the tall trees, the gorgeous flowers, the wide green grass field and the deep starry sky above. Black Hat rarely slept, and he thought that was why he had all the time in the world to capture this beautiful scenery around his mansion every night. The street had fallen into silence long ago. In this remote area, there wasn't really that many people around. Well, it was mainly because many people were so afraid of Black Hat that they wouldn't ever dare be his neighbors or even live in the same area as him, hence why he could only see so few people and cars passing by.

To think about it, how long had it been since he moved out and started living here?

He never knew exactly how long. He was immortal, and because of it, he never really cared about time that much. But he knew that it was long enough for him to witness so many employees of his coming and leaving. He'd hired people who were mortal, and he'd actually seen them aging and eventually passing away.

And how long had he been running this business? He seriously established this organization… just out of boredom. Hundreds of people needed to keep a business running because it was their only source of income, but Black Hat really didn't need it that much. He had everything. He had fought against so many heroes that no one ever dared touch him. He had money, he had power, he had fame, he had the world in his hand… He possibly had all the best things in this world, so what else could he be craving and seeking?

Some people would've tried to find a partner, but he never felt a need to look for love. Before, even when his twin brother got himself a girlfriend, he didn't have a slight urge to find one. To be completely honest, he used to find love… rather unnecessary and, dare he say it, stupid. Of course, people could go out and love anyone, and he wouldn't judge a bit. But he used to believe that a true villain, like Black Hat himself, didn't need love, or even affection.

Why, you asked?

Because he believed love made you weak, which was what a villain shouldn't be.

He believed affection made you do stupid things, because affection caused you to only think about the ones you loved.

Black Hat used to believe humans were stupid because they fell in love so easily, but could get stuck with it for eternities. He had seen so many of theirs regrettable acts, and there were millions of cases where love was involved. When they were cheated on, they killed. When they loved someone but their feelings weren't returned, they ended their own lives. When they loved someone so dearly but that person passed away, they cried a river. Oh, those breakups and divorces… he'd seen them all.

So he had told himself to never get involve in those troubles…

… until _she_ came into his life.

He'd been questioning himself a lot about this whole romantic relationship thing. He'd had employees who were female before. And despite having the "no love involved" rule, he once found that rule rather unnecessary, because he never felt anything for them, not even the slightest bit, and he was proud of it. He never felt affection towards them, neither did them. But even if they did, he wouldn't even care anyway. Rules were rules, and even if there was no rule, he would still remain the same: cold, heartless, evil, superior, and the best villain of them all, who never showed fear or any weaknesses.

But Fluggie… he could never understand why he fell for her in the first place. He knew this sounded cliché in a way, but there was definitely something... _special_ about her that was able to move his cold devil heart. No woman had seriously been able to make him fall deep into love this hard. He'd met so many ladies, each with different personality traits and talents. But no one could impress him to the point that he wanted to keep seeing them. Fluggie, to be honest, really had nothing to show off. Fluggie wasn't like those women who were always confident to show their beauty and their talents. She had good look, but she always had that paper bag over her head. She was talented, but she was too awkward to confidently communicate with potential customers.

Fluggie had always been an absolute mess of awkwardness, and he could already see it clearly just from her first days of work. She was so awkward, weird and shy that he even started to question himself if he made a mistake hiring her. Despite having encountered so many explosions and such, she still got startled so easily, and whenever he suddenly appeared behind her, she would become a complete mess to the point that she lost the ability to communicate. And on the day she recorded her first commercial with him, it took _hours_ just to finish the recording session, not counting the editing process because she stuttered, and paused, and then stuttered again so _goddamn_ much that he couldn't help releasing all his rage on her, which resulted in her curling into a ball and him face-palming hard. And he could still remember the times when she accidentally collided into him in the hallways, sometimes making both of them fall to the floor, and she would say sorry non-stop because she thought he was going to kill her, literally, right there and then.

But despite all that, there were also other things about her that made him really interested, and possibly were the reason why he fell for her. When he hired her, she was only nineteen, and he was seriously impressed by how creative and talented her young mind was, and how steady and careful her hands could be. Those machineries he had successfully sold, all invented by her. His security system, upgraded by her. Through the cameras, he could see that when she was all by herself, she was calm and focused. Her hands quickly but also carefully put the tiny pieces together as her eyes mainly focused on the blueprints. When dealing with those deadly chemicals, she steadily poured them and mixed them together, creating incredibly effective potions. And oh, how he _loved_ those times when she became a sadist while conflicting pain on those who dared get in his or her way.

To think about it, it had been five years, which was quite a long time now. To him, it merely felt like a day, but to her, a human, it must be a very long time.

Black Hat let out a sigh as he kept his gaze out of the glass walls. He didn't know when he started having feelings for her, but he still remembered the days when he finally realized that an infamous villain like him had fallen for a mere human. It was hard, he couldn't deny it. He'd always been so full, so proud of himself for so long that it was difficult for him to take in the reality. He had always laughed at humans for falling in love so easily, but then he let his heart get stolen by a mere human just like that.

And what made him realize that he had developed feelings for her, you asked? Well, there were many things, but it was definitely the strange sensation whenever they were around each other. His heart started to beat faster when he saw her or heard her voice from afar. For many times, seeing her so into demonstrating her new invention made him completely forgot about everything else, because she looked just like an adorable dork who just went on about their success even when no one was listening. They rarely made skin or eye contact, so he immediately suspected that something was odd about himself when he constantly tried to look her straight into her eyes or touch her hands, her shoulders whenever he had a chance. When he didn't see her at least once a day, he would go crazy until he forced himself to go look for her, and then made up excuses that he was "checking on the work progress".

It was definitely weird, but it was just a simple, innocent romantic feeling…

… until his lust started to kick in.

_That_ was when he definitely knew something was _seriously_ _ **wrong**_ about himself. Yes, he'd had sexual sensation from those one-night-stands and hookups. But he had _never ever_ suddenly lusted so deeply for a woman all by himself like that. He never exactly knew how Fluggie was able to seduce him when she completely had no intention of doing it in the first place. Her T-shirt wrapped around her body perfectly, showing those beautiful curves. He blamed those tight jeans, because they revealed the shape of those luscious legs of hers.

His lust… was a sin. He felt guilty because of it. He wasn't able to control his desire, and that was what made Fluggie go through the struggle and pain of having to raise a child while hiding the feelings she thought would never be returned.

But if it hadn't been for that unforgettable night, maybe things would have still been the same, days would have gone through like normal, and they wouldn't have had confessed their feelings to each other. Because, let's be real here, there was absolutely zero chance that Fluggie would be willing to admit her feelings. If she was too afraid to even talk to him, then how would she be able to confess to him about that kind of stuff? Black Hat also was too afraid to come clean about his true feelings, because he, for the first time ever, feared of rejection. Every single human feared him and tried to stay away from him, so he could never imagine that a human would actually think of him as a savior and developed feelings for him.

So in the end, he was glad that he was able to accept the reality, and accept the fact love could come to anyone, even a fearful eldritch like him. Thanks to her, he finally realized that love wasn't all bad like he once believed. Love could make your days brighter when you were with someone you love and when you were able to make them happy. Love could make you felt appreciated and warm inside. Love could make you stronger, because you cared for your loved one so much that you'd be willing to sacrifice yourself to keep them safe.

Fluggie… she taught him so many things, and changed the way he looked at the world.

He didn't know if he would ever be able to return what she'd done for him, but he had promised himself that he must protect her and make her happy no matter what.

So he had made a decision that could possibly change their relationship forever.

Taking in a deep breath, with a snap of his fingers, he created a small green light glow and sent it away to where his darling was working.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh my god, why did this chapter was so hard to write?! It took me days to finish it!
> 
> Maybe it was because describing Black Hat's feelings was pretty hard to pull off. I want to put him in a peaceful setup where he could collect his thoughts, but I also don't want him to be out of character. I imagine him having an extremely difficult time to accept the reality where he'd fallen for a human, a scenario which he'd never thought of being in, so I want to make it feel like he was struggling a lot.
> 
> But anyway, I hope you enjoyed reading this. I'll see you again soon.


	20. The Piano

Fluggie let out a small sigh as she put her coffee mug down, looking at the unfinished prototype on her work table.

Secretly wondering what time it was, she looked at the clock hanging on the wall. It showed that it was midnight, and she let out another sigh, leaning her back to her swivel chair, letting it spin slowly as she looked up at the ceiling. She didn't really realize how long it had actually been, but she was pretty used to it, anyway. She had been sitting here since eight in the evening, when she finished reading Ryan a bedtime story and let him slowly drift to sleep.

As she let her chair spin around, she looked at her lab. Everything in this room had become so familiar to her that she remembered every single little thing in it, because she had worked in this room for many years.

Just like when she didn't remember to keep track of how long she had been sitting here, she didn't actually realize how long it had been since she started living here. It had been more than five years, long enough for her to forget about time itself, long enough for her to forget about the first day she came here. But up until now, when that day was mentioned, she could still remember the loud sound of the malfunctioning system, the extreme panic of the passengers and how the sky flashed outside the windows as the plane just continued to drop to the ground at lightning speed until it crashed, making everything stopped at once as her vision immediately went black.

She could still remember the moment when she gained her consciousness and looked closely at her surroundings after the accident. Everything had fallen apart, just like her hopes and dreams. Seeing everything had been broken to pieces made her tremble in fear, disbelief. She couldn't believe that she couldn't even get to see her family, to go to another convention one last time. She couldn't have another chance to try to prove her skill, to better her life, to be famous, to make her dreams come true. Her entire life was shut down just like that.

She had wished there was at least someone there for her to rely on, to share her pain with, to try to get out of that situation together. But there was simply no one. No one at all. It was her all alone. Someone would have said it was a miracle that they were still alive. But honestly, she just wanted to disappear right there and then. Was there really anything else for her to hold on, to keep fighting for her life?

She thought she was hopeless, so she didn't know what made her move forward. She tried to push her body up and forced her legs to move. Maybe… she wasn't really hopeless after all. Maybe there was still a tiny glimmer of hope deep inside her fragile mind that she could do something to change the situation. She didn't know what she could possibly do, but she was sure that it was better than just sitting there and crying. So, she kept walking, and walking, and walking until her legs were tired and collapsed.

Truthfully, it was a horrible experience that anyone would wish to forget. She would have wanted to forget it as well, but she also wanted to keep the memories of that day, because that was how she met Black Hat, her boss and the love of her life.

Black Hat, she couldn't deny that he was completely terrifying the first time they met. Just his appearance alone was enough to scare off any normal human with that tall body, that dark skin and those big green sharp teeth. But it wasn't just his appearance that could make _anyone_ fear him, not just humans. When talking with customers and business partners, he was calm and professional, making others interested in his business. But when he was put in a dangerous situation, he never showed any signs of fear or any weaknesses. He was strong and confident, even if he was alone among thousands of enemies. She bet that even if he didn't use any of his supernatural powers, he'd still win them all. That was how powerful he was.

Oh, how she remembered her first days working at this organization. When she signed the contract, sealing the deal they made, she suddenly felt a newfound energy inside of her. She had found a place to live in, she had found a job for herself, she had found hope once again, she had found another chance to start over, to untangle the mess in her life. But little did she know that it was a very scary and risky decision. Working with Black Hat was not an easy task. He wasn't like those typical bosses who were just overly strict. His mood was kind of… unpredictable, and sometimes she didn't understand how to please him at all. At some times, when she thought she did a great job, he'd yell at her, show his agony and disappointment because her work didn't meet his expectation. At some other times, he'd just sigh, shrug it off and tell her to start over. And other times, he'd be very pleased with her work, even if she felt like she did the job terribly. Plus, she had been so used to working at home alone that suddenly having a boss was quite difficult.

At certain points, Fluggie would think it was because she was a human that she didn't understand her boss. But she slowly understood that it was the matter of time and waiting patiently. As days passed by, she started to get a grip on what Black Hat wanted and expected from her. Of course, his mood would forever be unreadable, but at least she had some ideas on a few things he liked and hated. She learnt about some food he liked, what kind of inventions he was interested in, and so on.

Honestly, they had been dating for about a year, but she felt like she had already known so much about him. They had lived together for five years anyway.

But that night they spent together… it had changed everything.

After about three years of working for him, she suddenly felt something in her heart. It was a very familiar feeling, but she couldn't quite figure out what it was. But after a short time, she finally realized what it was.

It was that exact feeling when she started dating her ex-boyfriend back when she was still in high school.

It was love.

She had fallen for her boss.

Fluggie sighed as she left her work table and went to the windows, opening it to let the fresh air come in. She rested her elbows on the windowsill, thinking about when she started realizing her little crush on her own boss.

At first, she denied it completely. She thought it was just because she suddenly recalled the memories of her ex-boyfriend, so she thought it was no big deal and shrugged it off. But after a while, she soon realized it wasn't the case. Every time she walked up to her boss, she felt like something was stuck in her throat. She had always been nervous when she was around him, but it was more than that. She felt like she wanted to say something to him, but she simply couldn't. Her thoughts were masked by the words reporting her work process. The thoughts from the back of her head, the feeling at the deepest reach of her heart couldn't escape, and she was stuck with them.

She knew it was for the best if she kept silent about it, because she couldn't be heart-broken again. Not again. She had always wanted to build a family of her own, and that little dream was crushed immediately when her ex said he couldn't stand the rumors about her. His words made her think no one could ever love her because of all the rumors. She couldn't afford to have her heart broken once more. She asked herself about what she ever did to deserve this. She had told herself to move on, to abandon her dream and just continue being a single inventor for the rest of her life. But now, she had developed romantic feelings once again, and it was even worse when those feelings were toward Black Hat, the infamous man himself.

Fluggie had imagined the scenario where she came clean about her true feelings, and she couldn't let it happen. Who was Black Hat? The powerful, fearless, merciless eldritch who had everything in his grasp. Who was she? A human who was mortal, weak, awkward, weird who had nothing except her inventions. If she confessed to him, she could only think of nothing but bad things. He would laugh at her, humiliate her, make fun of her, saying that she was in no position to love him, telling her that she was delusional for thinking he would even bother to consider accepting her feelings. And after that, her life would be ruined until she died, because she would be too embarrassed and uncomfortable to even face him any longer.

That night when she suddenly heard him said that he loved her very much, she felt happy. She couldn't believe Black Hat himself had returned her feelings. But she also felt scared, because he said he loved her so much _that he wanted to keep her to himself for eternities._ She was more than happy to hear that he loved her back, but his desire to claim her as his own made her have mixed feelings.

But when their time together was over, when the night had ended, when she had time to think to herself, she soon found a new doubtful thought that haunted her for months. That night he was drunk, he wasn't able to think straight, so what if… he didn't actually have any feeling for her? What if it was just a plain, simple one night stand that he wouldn't even remember? What if he did it because… she reminded him of _a woman who he actually loved?_

That last question made her shiver and made tears roll down her face every time she thought about it. Was she really just a shadow of another woman?

At some points, she was really tempted to ask Black Hat about that night, to get all her fear and doubts out of her mind, but a part of her told her that it was a bad idea. Because he probably wouldn't be able to remember about that night. But even if he did, he would question her about why she asked, and she would have to tell him about her feelings, because she was a terrible liar.

She had to thank Ryan, because he was the one who helps his parents get together. If it hadn't been for him, then things would have been the same, and she would have still wondered about her feelings for Black Hat while trying to hide the truth, and he wouldn't have had a chance to express what he felt.

As she continued to keep her gaze out to the deep night sky, something suddenly shone brightly behind her. She turned around to discover that it was a small bright green light, and she had no doubt that it was Black Hat's. But why did it come here? It was midnight, and she thought that he was still busy with paperwork.

It suddenly held her sleeve and pulled her. She was confused, so she stood still, and it pulled at her sleeve again.

She raised an eyebrow at it. What was it trying to do?

It flew to the door and moved around the doorknob, signaling her to open the door. She did exactly what it told her and got out of her lab. That was when she noticed there was a beautiful melody playing from very far away. Her lab was always sound-proofed, so the sound was masked away.

The light flew in front of her face and then went down the halls quickly but also tried to let her catch up. It led her through the halls, down the stairs, passing by many rooms. As she followed it, the sound became clearer and clearer, and she realized that it was the sound of a piano. That was when she finally understood where the light was leading her.

As she reached the first floor, the light went into the expected destination, the piano room, where she and Black Hat had meetings with elite guests and important business partners.

She opened the door, and a beautiful scene appeared right in front of her eyes. Outside, the flowers were blooming beautifully. The moonlight shone through the glass walls, showering the whole room with a magnificent glow. The curtains flowed ever so gently as Black Hat sat there in front of the piano with his back facing her. He looked so peaceful and calm, unlike how he was when he was with others, like there were many thoughts occupying his mind. The song was still playing harmoniously as his fingers pressed each keys in a perfect synch. He was playing her favorite song Bésame Mucho, the song she always hummed quietly when she was alone while working. He must have noticed it.

The light flew in front of him and faded away. He turned around to face her as he stopped playing.

"You're here, Fluggie." He said quietly.

She was speechless for a while before she suddenly snapped out of her thoughts.

"Y- yes, I'm here, Mister Black Hat."

He sighed. "What did I say about no formalities when we're not greeting guests?"

"O- Oh, I'm sorry…" She stuttered. "I'm just… stunned."

"What?" He chuckled as he turned his body a little bit while resting on hand on the piano. "You've seen me play the piano multiple times before, you know."

She scratched her neck. "W- Well, yeah, but… you look so… different. It's really hard to explain…"

As no one said anything, Black Hat just looked at her very closely while she was busy fiddling with her fingers awkwardly. She looked nervous, but he was sure she wasn't as nervous as him. She was here, and the time had finally come. It had to happen.

He took a deep breath and stood up from the stool with a swift move, but she didn't notice it until he started walking toward her. Each step from him was slow, making his heels clank on the floor. Fluggie held her hands in front of her chest as she tried to calm her fast-beating heart while she watched each movement from him. His expression was really mysterious and unreadable. What was he trying to do?

When he was in front of her, he inhaled and placed his hands onto her shoulders.

"Do you know why I called you here?"

She looked up into his eye for a while before mumbling

"No… No, I don't."

"I… want to tell you something."

"What is it?"

He stayed silent for a while before speaking up again.

"Fluggie, you know how important you are to me, right?" He said. "I've always said it to you, but I feel like… it isn't enough."

She didn't say anything and let him continue.

"You've done so much for me." He held her shoulders tightly as he looked straight into her eyes. "You're always there for me, no matter how ungrateful I am toward your efforts before. You always comfort me and make me feel better. And the most importantly, you taught me how to love. So I soon realized that only telling you I love you isn't enough to return what you've done for me."

She opened her mouth, wanting to say something. But she was speechless.

"I really want to make you happy, Fluggie. I want you to feel loved, feel appreciated. I want to be always there for you and protect you, even if I need to sacrifice myself. So tonight, under the moonlight, I want to ask you something."

He then moved his hand down to hold her hands. The way he held her hands was so tight but oh so gentle and loving. He gazed deeply into her eyes as he knelt down. A bright light appeared, forming a beautiful golden ring.

"Fluggie, will you marry me?"

Fluggie felt like time had stopped as he said those words. Her body was frozen, but her heart was beating so quickly inside her chest. Her mind was going all over the place as she looked down at him. He was still looking up at her, not letting go of her hand as the ring floated between them, glowing brightly with the moonlight. Her mouth was agape as her hand shook slightly.

A drop of tear rolled down her cheek and landed on his hand.

"F- Fluggie?" He said. "Fluggie, are you-"

He stood up, panicking when he saw tears rolling down her face.

"Fluggie! W- Why are you crying?! D- Did I- Did I do something wrong? D- Did I hurt you-"

"No, silly…"

She mumbled as she looked up at him with her watery eyes. Despite the tears, on her rosy lips was a smile, a very happy and beautiful smile.

"T- They're tears of joy, Black Hat." She said between sniffs. "You don't know how much you make me happy just by asking that q- question. To be engaged and get married with a man I love is something I've never thought would come true, yet here we are. I'm- I'm literally overjoyed right now. T- Thank you…"

He didn't say anything for a while, but soon found himself smiling in relief. He made her happy, and he was happy about it.

"I'm glad to hear that, Fluggie."

As he put the ring onto her finger, he thought about a new future awaiting them before pulling her into a warm embrace.


	21. The Big Day

"You look absolutely _beautiful,_ darling." Emerald beamed happily. "Black will be _stunned_ when he sees you."

Fluggie couldn't stop smiling the whole time as she let her hair be done by the hair stylists. She had been waiting for this day for so, _so_ long. It had literally been more than a year since the day they started preparing for the wedding, and she knew Black Hat was as eager as she was. Right after the moment when she accepted his marriage proposal, he _insisted_ on getting married _right away_ because of all the excitement building up inside him. And of course, she had to try her hardest to convince him to take their time. She couldn't blame him, but she didn't want to rush either. Getting ready for the wedding was one of the most exciting things ever, so why should they rush and ruin all the fun?

Black Hat sure wanted to make everything perfect for their big day. He had everything done by the most well-known and skilled professionals, and he spent a whole month just looking for the right people and discussing things with them. Even with the wedding dress, he had it _customized_ to his bride's liking by a designer who had had more than thirty years of experience.

At first, she said that a customized dress was… kind of unnecessary, and she could just choose one at a bridal shop, but he insisted on getting it designed just for her, because he wanted to make her feel extra special. And after a while, she eventually chose to agree with him. She talked and discussed with the designer, Cadence, for a very long time, and Cadence took her job _very seriously_ (well, she was working for Black Hat himself after all). She made sure she got Fluggie's measurements accurate to every inch, and that the final design fitted Fluggie's taste.

Honestly, at first Fluggie was very confused about all of this. When Cadence asked what type of dress she wanted, she realized that… _she knew nothing about the fashion industry._ She did know a few things about wedding dresses, like "trains" or "veil". But when it comes to those words like "Fit and Flare", "A-Line", "Sheath"… stuff like those, she had no idea what they referred to. So, Cadence helped her out by recommending her types of dress, sleeves… that would suit her body and style. And man, looking at a designer's book was really something, because it had so many things in it that it would take her a _whole day_ if she wanted to closely look at every page.

Customizing a wedding dress was pretty difficult, but it was worth it, and Fluggie was definitely pleased with the result: a pure white dress in the Drop-waist silhouette with flowery laces at the top part and two straps made of see-through straps falling off her shoulders. The bottom part was made of a very soft, light and puffy fabric, and it extended to form a very long trains. Despite its simplicity, it complimented her curves and gave out a very elegant vibe, especially with the pretty laces and the long trains.

Fluggie lifted her head a little to take a good look at herself in the mirror in front of her as the hair stylist tied her hair, her small crystals earrings swaying back and forth slightly and her necklace sparkling as she did. Looking at herself without the paper bag felt pretty strange sometimes. Black Hat had said that she didn't have to take off her bag if she felt uncomfortable about showing her face to so many people she wasn't close to. But in the end, she had decided that she shouldn't hide her face anymore on such an important day like her own wedding. Thinking back about that decision of hers, she didn't regret it because if she had had that bag over her head, then she wouldn't have had the chance to see how beautiful she looked. Her hair was tied into a low bun, and two braids on both sides of her head were joined at the bun. The makeup was simple and wasn't heavy, but its pastel color really gave her a very dreamy look that could melt and capture any stone-cold heart. Black mascara and rose gold eyeshadow complimented her big blue eyes, and light pink color touched up her soft lips and rosy cheeks.

As the stylist was done doing her hair after a little fixing, she picked up the veil with red, pink and white roses attached to it and white flowery laces at the end of its long train. She wrapped the roses around Fluggie's hair bun to put the veil on her hair. She smiled as she bent her body down, putting her hands on Fluggie's shoulders.

"Miss, you look beautiful! You should really have a look at yourself in the mirror over there!"

She held the bride's hand, helping her get up from the stool slowly. She led Fluggie to the large mirror leaning to the wall, placed next to the dressing table. As she fixed and straightened the trains, Fluggie gasped quietly as she rested her hand on her chest. Looking at her face in the mirror was amazing enough, and now when she had a full look at herself from head to toe, it felt even more incredible, magical even. The pure white color of her outfit seemed to glow so brightly as the sunshine from outside shone inside the room through the window, and the long veil and trains made her feel like she was a princess in a fairytail, just like what she had dreamt of becoming when she was just a little girl.

"I… I _love this._ " She couldn't help but said out loud her feelings.

"Every girl in that dress would say that, to be honest."

Fluggie turned over her right to see Demencia had walked to stand next to her. Honestly, Fluggie had been so used to seeing Demencia in crazy outfits that it was pretty strange to see her in such a formal one. The strong colors that the lizard girl was always seen with were now replaced by the soft, pure white one. Instead of the usual steampunk style, she was dressed in a knee-length dress with a red ribbon wrapped around her waist, which was tied into a small bow at her left side. Her hair was still tied into a high ponytail like usual and not styled in any way, but the lizard hood was replaced by a white elastic hair band with a small red rose attached to it. Covering her arm were long, white fingerless gloves and at her feet were flat, white doll shoes. Fluggie knew Demencia wouldn't do well in long dresses and high heels, so she figured that this style fitted her the most.

"You know, it's pretty weird seeing you in such a formal dress like this." Fluggie said as she looked at Demencia from head to toes.

"It's the same for me, actually." Demencia chuckled. "I mean, since the very first day that we met, you've always had on that lab coat and simple clothing, _and_ that paper bag, _and_ that serious look that screams 'stressed and tired'."

Fluggie let out a small laugh. "Do I _really_ look like that?"

"Hmm… maybe yes." Demencia rubbed her chin and put her hand on her waist. "But not today, apparently. Because damn, you're looking like a _queen._ "

Fluggie chuckled.

"Come on girl, ya know it's true." Demencia smirked. "I mean, anyone marrying Black Hat can automatically be seen as a queen."

Fluggie didn't know why, but both of them immediately fell into silence at the mention of the eldritch. Sometimes, Fluggie forgot that Demencia had used to love him very much as well, and Fluggie was sure that her love for him had once been as strong as Fluggie's. She suddenly remembered the time when she was in complete denial of her feelings, unable to accept the truth that she had given her heart to her own boss. To think about it, Demencia must have felt so hurt inside. It pained when you thought or realized that your feelings weren't returned, or even ignored by the one you loved. Yet, she didn't even talk or mention it to Fluggie at all, and kept it to herself until last year. She couldn't imagine that such a crazy lizard girl could be that… sentimental.

It suddenly felt very awkward, and Fluggie averted her gaze.

"Y- Yeah…"

This didn't go unnoticed by the lizard girl. "Hey, what's wrong? Why do you suddenly look so down?"

"I… It's nothing, Demencia…"

It took Demencia a short while to catch on. "O- Oh, is it because I mentioned him?"

Fluggie stayed silent.

"Come on, you already knew that I'm over him long ago, didn't you?" Demencia showed a wide grin as she lightly tapped Fluggie's shoulders. "No need to feel so bad."

Fluggie still didn't say anything.

"F- Fluggie…?" A worried expression was soon seen on Demencia's face. "Y- You okay-"

Demencia was immediately cut off when the bride wrapped her arms around her and pulled her into a tight embrace. Being caught off guard, all she could do was to stand there, speechless and motionless. She didn't know why Fluggie suddenly do it, but she could feel the hug getting tighter and tighter, as if she would disappear if Fluggie let go of her.

"Demencia…" Fluggie finally spoke up, with her words just came out as small mumbles. "I… I feel like… I don't deserve this kindness from you…"

"W- What are ya talking about?" Demencia stuttered out. "Wh- What's gotten into you so suddenly?"

"Demencia, I've never realized how much you mean to me until lately." Fluggie tried to talk more clearly, but her words only came out as small mumbles. "Honestly, a lot of times you're really annoying, but you've also been there for me a lot of times, and we've shared lots of memories together. I still remember the times when I got so overwhelmed that I snapped, yelled at you and scared you. But instead of walking away, you actually tried to say sorry and comfort me, even if you did nothing wrong in the first place."

Fluggie let out a sigh. "I never got to show my gratitude until now."

Demencia was speechless for a while before wrapping her arms around the bride, hugging her back. "Hey, don't get too emotional there, you're gonna ruin your makeup. Cheer up, girl. Remember that you're marrying the most powerful man in this world, and you must look your best today."

On both of their faces was a smile, even when they broke the hug.

"Demencia, I appreciate the time we've spent together. I see you as a very close friend…"

Fluggie held the other's hands tightly.

"And that's why I asked you to be my bridesmaid from the very beginning."

* * *

Black Hat had a good look at his surroundings as he adjusted his hat. He took every little thing into observation, moving his hand down to straighten his sleeves.

It was a fine day indeed, with clear blue sky and fluffy white clouds floating above. He could see and feel the warmth of the sun rays shining through the rectangular holes on the roof, where the beautiful purple wisteria wrapped around and hung down from. On each side of the rows of seats were blooming roses in red, pink and white, and petals were scattered all over the aisle. Beside the seats were two rows of pillars, one on each side, to let the wisteria twist around them. Fluggie was absolutely in love with the idea of having a vineyard wedding with flowers hanging from above, as she was fascinated by how magical it was to walk down the aisle under the beautifully blooming flowers. And of course, he wanted his fiancé to have the best wedding of her life ever, so he went ahead to make her dream come true.

All the guests were here. And even though there seemed to be hundreds of people, all of them were Black Hat's family and relatives, because sadly, Fluggie no longer had anyone in her family or any relative around, as she'd lost touch with them forever since the tragic plane crash. Black Hat just realized that harsh truth when they started giving out invitations, and Fluggie didn't even try to deny it. She said she was okay with it and told him not to worry. Even though she _did_ look fine, there was a hint of disappointment in her voice. To her, it must have felt so sad to have no family or relative attending her one and only special day of her life, or even a father to walk her down the aisle.

Looking at the people sitting at their seats, the groom unconsciously tugged at his cravat again, and this didn't go unnoticed by his twin who was standing next to him, with the groom's son, in a white shirt, black overall pants and a black bow tie, standing near and holding onto his leg.

"Nervous, aren't you?"

The statement startled Black Hat more than it was supposed to. "W- What?"

White Hat smirked a little. "Why looked so surprised, brother? I'm just asking if you're feeling nervous, that's all."

Black Hat averted his eyes, trying his best not to stumble with his words. "I- I'm not!"

"Come on, Black. I'm your twin brother, and I understand you more than most people do." White let out a small chuckle. "You constantly fix your clothes _only_ when you're nervous."

Black Hat glared over him for a second before looking at where the guests were, not saying anything more about it. But he couldn't resist looking over his outfit once more, checking if everything looked fine and dandy. Right from the bat, he had chosen to dress in black instead of white, because he simply didn't want to look like his twin's clone. His trench coat was similar to his usual one, but with golden trim, and his top hat's red band was also replaced by a golden one. He wore his usual white-and-black shoes, grey vest, and underneath the vest was a pure white dress shirt.

His overall outfit was fairly similar to his usual way of dressing, but there was certainly one thing that stood out the most: his cravat and the suit chains. On the left side of his trench coat was a double chain gold brooch, with the brooch shaped like a top hat and had small _real_ diamonds attached to it. His white cravat had three layers, and on the top layer's trim was small, elegant white laces. Although he always his shirt collar buttoned up, it still felt kind of weird to have a cravat wrapped around his neck.

White was still in his usual outfit, but he had a blue bow tie instead of a tie, and his coat's sleeves had golden patterns around the trims. He fixed his bow tie before turning over his brother again.

"You don't need to deny it, Black." White smiled, patting his hand onto Black's shoulder. "It's normal for a groom to be nervous on his wedding day, especially if it's his first time getting married."

"I said I'm not, White."

"Alright, whatever you said, brother." White let out another chuckle as he lightly elbowed his brother. "Still, I can't believe you're the first one to get married. Mom and Dad always thought that my wedding would be before yours. They didn't even know if your wedding existed at all!"

Black sighed. He seemed to have calmed down a little and now had a more relaxed posture with his hands behind his back, but he still couldn't deny the tension deep inside him. He wondered why himself. Why did he feel uneasy in front of a small crowd that was nothing compared to the amount of enemies he had had to fight in one single battle? Why did the calm setting of a normal wedding made he feel nervous more than the aftermath of an intense fight, with his enemies lying unconsciously and blood staining the harsh ground beneath him?

Every question in his mind vanished when the music started playing. He straightened up his back, as well as his twin who just finished fixing Ryan's posture. Everyone also stopped their chatting and silenced down, standing up straight respectfully. Black Hat could feel his heart beating even faster, because the music could only mean one thing…

Hearing the cue, two white birds flew to the entrance. Behind the white curtain was the silhouette of a woman, and everyone's attention turned to the birds as they pulled up the curtains. Demencia appeared behind them, slowly leading the bride down the aisle.

When Fluggie was further in and everyone could have a close look at her, Black Hat thought he had lost his breath for a split second.

He was _stunned_ at how _gorgeous_ she was.

After such a long time, he finally got to see his bride in a wedding dress, and he had to admit that it was worth the wait. The dress sparkled as the sunshine shone from behind her, giving her a beautifully gentle glow. Her eyes slowly opened, revealing their deep blue color that he always adored. Under the gentle sunlight, her eyes glowed ever so brightly, just like the rarest gem in this world, like a garden full of blue flowers, like how the sea sparkled under the early morning sun. Her lips formed the most precious smile in the world as she started walking with a bouquet of roses in hand.

Black Hat's angel gracefully walked down the aisle, and each of her steps was the lightest, most elegant and gentle ones Black Hat had ever seen in his entire life. He closely looked at the way her dress wrapped around her curves so perfectly, and how her dress swayed so softly with each step she took. Everyone's eyes all stuck on her, and some guests even gasped. They must have been stunned by her youthful beauty, just like the groom.

When she reached Black Hat and stood side by side with him, she looked over him and smiled. Black Hat was in awe, because that was the brightest, most beautiful and angelic smile he had ever captured with his very eyes. After Fluggie gave her bouquet to Demencia, he ever so gently caressed her hands in his own as the officiant started his opening statement once everyone had settled down.

"Dearly beloved, today is a celebration, a celebration of love, of commitment between two people who are in it for eternities. Today, promises become permanent and friends become family." He spoke with a loud, strong but also gentle voice. "Today, at this very moment, we're gathered to celebrate the special and long-lasting love between the groom, the mighty, powerful Black Hat himself, and the bride, his talented scientist and loyal partner, Fluggie Slys."

Everyone was silent, listening to the whole thing attentively.

"This day, the most important day in Black and Fluggie's lives, is about love. Love is something everyone, at least once in their lifetime, has experienced. As Dr. Seuss had once said, _'I know I am in love with you because my reality is finally better than my dreams'_. Indeed, love is a powerful thing, so powerful that it can melt the coldest heart, change one's way of perceiving the world and better their life. But love, it isn't simply just a word, but an action. Love isn't simply what you say, but what you do. Love is kind, genuine, honest and compassionate. Love is something that never dies."

As each word was spoken and each second passed by, Black Hat's hold on Fluggie's hands seemed to get tighter and warmer as they locked their eyes together. It seemed like that gorgeous smile on her lips never faded away, and he never got tired of looking at it.

"Black and Fluggie, they together hold that same love between them. They, with their trust for each other, have overcome great obstacles on their paths to reach for each other, to unite their hearts. They, alongside one another, have been for the other whenever needed, no matter the circumstances. They have been on countless journeys, and there are more to come in the future. But no matter what happens, they're sure to make it work."

The officiant looked up from his book and looked at the couple standing in front of him.

"Black and Fluggie, must I remind you, and must you both remember, that your relationship is built on mutual understanding, sympathy, kindness, consideration and affection, and that love and loyalty will serve as guidance to your long-lasting happiness in your future life together. Hand in hand you enter marriage, and hand in hand you step out in faith. Don't let you grip become weak. Be strong and hold each other's hand until the end. Be confident and don't be afraid to share your thoughts and troubles to the other. It is both of your duty to better each other's life and make every moment worth it until the end. Pledge your vows with the deepest and most honest feelings from the bottom reach of your hearts. When you say 'I love you', mean it, as you're committing yourself to the next stage of your relationship, your bond and your trust between each other."

Black Hat took in a deep breath as he began.

"Fluggie, I know I'm not good at expressing my feelings, but trust me that I mean everything I'm saying. When I say 'You're the light that bright up my darkness', I actually mean it. Long ago, I'd never imagine myself as a groom, standing in front of everyone as I vowed my love to a woman I'd be committing my life to. Before you came into my life, I never knew what love is, and never understood how it felt to love and be loved. I never bothered to look for love or any kind of affection at all. I was a stubborn, heartless man who always thought love was something surreal, unnecessary and not worth finding. But you proved it to me that I was wrong the whole time. You've shown me that love could do many incredible things and that it could change how one see the world, like what it's done to me. I'm now a different and better version of myself, all thanks to you. I want to make you smile everyday, to be proud of myself that I'm able to light up my most beloved's days. I want protect you with everything, even if millions of obstacles are in my way. I want to spend the rest of my life with you, to create memories and cherish them, as well as every moment I can be with you."

Fluggie was staring at him in awe all the time, and she could tell that he was struggling his best to keep his composure. His hand was noticeably shaking while holding hers, and small drops of sweats started to run down his face. She knew that he meant everything he'd said, but expressing emotions was not something he was best at, especially if it was in front of his family and relative. She must admit that she appreciated his effort a lot, since it had always been difficult to break out of your shell and show a different you to everyone who had known you for so long. Everyone had always seen him as a strong, fearless eldritch who never showed any mercy or kindness, so to see him say those romantic and loving words to a human must be a very big surprise.

She tightened her grip on his hands as she spoke up.

"Black Hat, it's the name of the most powerful and well-known man in the entire world. Black Hat, it's the name of the man who had saved the life of a normal human girl like me, a human girl who had no special power or anything worthy to be allowed to live by the mighty Black Hat himself. So from the very beginning, I've secretly pledged my ever-lasting loyalty to you, and I put a promise on myself to make you proud, to prove myself worthy. But there suddenly was something in me that I wasn't able to admit so easily, even to myself, and it was my love for you. Maybe I've loved you ever since the very first day, but I wasn't aware of it until a few years later. I was scared to accept it, to admit it to you, but I eventually had to, and I didn't regret it. If I'm the light that bright up your darkness, then you're the hope that keeps me shining. You're forever my savior, my partner, whom I want to be with for as long as I live. I want to bring happiness to you, to shower you with affection everyday, to continue showing you what love is all about."

Black Hat was once again stunned when hearing those words from her. He had never noticed how much she'd changed since they started dating until now. When he first met her, she was still an awkward mess who could never properly form a sentence without stuttering a little. But now, here she was, in a gorgeous white dress, standing right in front of her boss with her fingers intertwined with his as she maintained the eye-contact, letting out every thought that was in her mind, unafraid to tell him how much she loved him. She truly had become a more mature woman who had developed bravery, confidence and pride in herself and her partner.

Once both of them had finished, the officiant spoke up once again. It was when White helped Ryan, the little ring bearer, walked toward his parents with a small box in his hand.

"Black and Fluggie, these rings are the symbol of the vows you have just exchanged. They are the symbol that seals the promises which have been made, the reminder of your loyalty and trust, and the proof of your commitment. Please take these rings and honor each other in their giving."

It was indeed a very magical moment. They each picked up the rings as gently and gracefully as ever. They could each feel the deepest sense of joy as their partner held their hand in theirs, carefully slipping the ring onto their finger. Fluggie couldn't help but smiled brightly during the entire exchange, and Black Hat didn't mind it at all. He loved her smile, or anything about her in general, so he wished that her smile would never fade away. Everyone looked so happy too, including White and his parents. Ryan might not know what was happening or the importance of this event, but on his face was a bright smile as well. Maybe his parents' happiness was enough to make him smile.

"Black and Fluggie, throughout this ceremony, you have pledged and promised your love for each other. You have vowed your eternal loyalty, trust and sympathy to one another with your friends and family's presence. Therefore, I solemnly pronounce you as husband and wife!"

Both of the bride and groom's hearts were beating even faster.

"You may now seal your vows and commitment with a kiss!"

Fluggie was never this nervous, but what her groom did was definitely not expected. Black Hat, wasting no time at all, held her waist and lifted her up in bridal style. Fluggie was still in pure surprise when he leaned in and sealed his lips with hers, and she let out a small gasp as everyone stood up, cheering and clapping loudly. This kiss… it somehow felt different. They had shared kisses before, and they were sweet and loving, sometimes with the hint of desire. But this kiss was more than that. It was full of affection, joy and the happiness of finally committing themselves into marriage, so maybe that was why it felt so much more important. She soon found herself wrapping her arms around his neck, deepening the kiss.

"Black! Fluggie! I'm so happy for you two!"

Emerald rushed to the newlywed couple with her husband following behind, after the couple had broken the kiss.

"M- Mom, you're… crying." Black Hat said as his mother pulled him and his bride into a tight hug.

"Don't worry about it Black, because they're tears of joy!" Emerald wiped her eyes with her handkerchiefs. "I- I can't believe you're finally married! I'm proud of you."

"Yes, it's really a big surprise." White added. "You always thought that I'd get married first."

"Indeed, honey." Emerald beamed happily. "When White gets married as well, I'm going to be the happiest woman ever!"

"M- Miss Hat, I-"

"Now now, dearest." Emerald cut Fluggie off with a bright smile and a pat on her shoulder. "No need for formalities anymore, just call me Mom, got it? You're officially in the family now, though I've always seen you as my child from the very beginning."

Fluggie fell into complete silent. She felt like there was something stuck in her throat as tears threatened to roll down her cheeks. For the longest time ever, she had never had someone to call 'Mom' ever since the plane crash. She missed that word dearly, and to finally call someone by that name again felt so endearing, not to mention how her mother-in-law so willingly and kindly accepted her into the family made tears forming in the corners of your eyes.

"M- M-"

She stuttered out as her hands slowly moved up.

"M- Mom!"

She wrapped her arms around the older woman, tears finally bursting out. She pulled her into a tight embrace and felt the other returning it.

"Dear, please don't cry." On Emerald's lips was a gentle smile. "It's your wedding day, you should be happy!"

"I'm sorry, I just-" Fluggie mumbled between sobs." I just can't help it."

"Hey girl, what did I tell you?" Demencia leaped in. " You're gonna ruin your makeup if you keep crying like that!"

"Well, congratulations to you then, brother." White said, patting his brother on his shoulder.

"Hey, now that the ceremony's over..." Demencia said as the bride and her mother-in-law broke the hug. "Does that mean it's.. party time?!"

"Well, it does..." Zairus spoke up. "...after they're done with the paperwork."

"Aww, laaaaaaame!"

Everyone let out a loud chuckle as Demencia groaned.

Before the officiant led them to somewhere more quiet to do the paperwork, the newlyweds held each other's hand as they stared into each other's eyes, smiling as they did.

A new journey awaited them and they made sure to stay together to the end, no matter what happened.

They were sure of it.


	22. Alone Together

Many thoughts occupied the infamous Black Hat's mind as he continued staring up at the ceiling above him.

For legitimately hundreds of centuries, he had always been known for his power. From a very early age, he had trained himself to master countless supernatural powers, to achieve his dream of taking over the world, making everyone bow down at his presence and beg for his forgiveness when they'd lost. He learned shapeshifting and size manipulation, to trick his enemies into thinking that he was someone or something else, so that he could attack them when they were the most vulnerable, or just so he could pull off an either funny, annoying or terrifying prank. He studied black magic to create demonic qualities to whatever he wanted. He had practiced and now could open any portals to any world at anytime he'd like, though it drained his energy very fast, so he chose only to do it when necessary. He was able to teleport, including through his shadows, and he could use his mind to control and manipulate people, which was the ability he used the most to convince other villains to buy from him. That amount of power might seem a lot to a human or a normal villain, but those were only a few powers that Black Hat knew.

This trait of his was one of the hundreds of things that made him different from his twin who didn't really focus on mastering his power as much as he did. Maybe because White never had the intention of making everyone fear him, and only learnt powers just for self-defense and to protect people he cared about. That goody two-shoes, he always made Black sigh in disappointment when he didn't seem to care about hurting others, whether physically or mentally. Sometimes, White being so nice to people who didn't deserve to be treated well really disgusted Black.

Black Hat had never shown mercy to anyone, ever. He never let go of a single chance to make his enemies suffer in the most painful and horrific way possible. Whatever damages his enemies did to him, he would pay them back ten times more horrendously. He was cruel and didn't care about anything as long as he won the battle. He would even go the extra miles not to hurt them, but their loved ones just to watch them struggle, as they were mentally scarred for the rest of their lives. He was so, _so_ powerful, so merciless that he was undefeatable most of the times, to the point that no one, not even the heroes, dared came near him, even if they were fully extra prepared. Well, that was what he wanted ever since he was young, so he felt super accomplished and proud of himself. Even at the present time, when he had retired, he was still running a very successful business, with a "little" help of his manipulation, of course.

By now, it was obvious that every intention and action of his was never for good deeds. So he greatly wondered what he ever did to deserve such a gorgeous angel who was sleeping soundly right next to him.

He slowly turned his head a little, to watch her sleep while trying not to wake her up. It was a stunning sight indeed, the sight where the sunshine of the early morning shone through the glass wall and onto her milky white skin, enchanting her dark hair and her long eyelashes. Quietly lifting up his hand, he pushed aside a strand of her hair from her face and tucked it behind her ear. Her arm was rested on his chest as she buried her head deep into the pillow and close to his neck, letting him feel every breath she let out. Slowly shifting his arm that was placed under her, he stroked her shoulder and then her smooth hair, glancing down to her luscious naked body hidden under the comfy, pure white blanket.

He always questioned about this one thing. He knew that no matter how beautiful a lady was, she still had those times when she looked like a complete disaster. But it was not a case for Fluggie. To him, she looked stunning in every moment, even when she was just simply deep in her peaceful slumber. It maybe was just because he loved her very much, but he wasn't really sure himself.

Something sparkled brightly and he looked at its direction to see a ring on his left hand. He still couldn't believe that he was actually married to the woman of his dream, which was one thing he never bothered thinking of way before he met her. But it had indeed happened, with the rings being the proof.

Looking out the glass wall that overlooked the magnificent Arabian Sea, he let out a small sigh. Being a busy business man himself, he had traveled to many places across the world, and he had visited Dubai a few times before. But this was his first time staying here with his dearest, instead of his business partners. Burj Al Arab had always been one of his top choices for his stay in Dubai, as it was one of the most luxurious, expensive hotels in the world, and the first ever one to have _seven_ stars. With the sky high price of one billion dollars per person in one night, a lot of people would immediately reconsider their choice and go for a cheaper hotel, but Black Hat couldn't care less. He had the money and he wanted his wife to know what it was like to stay in such a fancy place, so he was willing to go all the way.

Only had you stayed at the hotel that you truly understood why it was so expensive. All the money you spent was really worth the scenery and the services provided. Black Hat had chosen one of the best suites for couples, the Panoramic One-Bedroom Suite, which came with a comfy king-sized bed and an incredible view of the ocean beside him with a little bit of the Dubai cityscape. It looked similar to his bedroom at home, but it looked brighter and gave out a more… welcoming vibe? The butler service was available for 24 hours straight, which was pretty convenient in some situations, but Black Hat didn't use that service that often. He preferred to be alone in his private space without any disturbances.

Well, if you used the service and called someone to your room in the first place, it wouldn't really count as "disturbances". But still, Black Hat just didn't like the idea of a staff coming to his room.

He suddenly felt his wife shifting a little beside him as she let out a small mumble. _God_ , that was adorable of her.

"Morning…" She said with a little sleepiness in her voice as she cuddled closer to him, despite how close they already were.

"Morning." He slightly pulled her body toward him, narrowing the space between them. "Slept well?"

"Well, I did… Actually, do you even need to ask? I mean, the bed is super comfy enough, let alone the cool air in this room."

"So, you like it?"

"Of course." She smiled. "This is the best hotel I've ever stayed in so far, to be honest. When I was younger, staying in a regular hotel was already a lot to me, let alone in the significant hotel of Dubai!"

"Well, we've got two whole weeks to ourselves, so just relax and enjoy."

Black Hat leaned back against the pillows, looking out to the ocean with Fluggie by his side, also admiring the view. At first, they planned on bringing Ryan with them, but Black's parents insisted on taking care of him because they wanted them to get their mind away from everything and enjoy their alone time together, like how a true honeymoon really should be about. They seemed to really love him – well, he was their first grandchild after all – so the couple decided to leave their son to them. Demencia and 5.0.5 was also helping them, so they were staying at Black Hat's parents' while the newlyweds were gone. Black and Fluggie just secretly prayed that Demencia wouldn't burn the house down like she had done to Black's mansion, specifically the kitchen and Fluggie's lab.

"Hey…" Fluggie mumbled quietly, and Black Hat returned his attention to her. "Last night was… _intense,_ wasn't it?"

Black's heart skipped a beat at her statement. How could he really forget about last night? When their wedding was over, they were both exhausted. It was fun and enjoyable, he couldn't deny it, but it drained both of their energy after such a long, restless day. And right after that, they started preparing and packing for their honeymoon right away, so they couldn't have had some… _private_ time together until they had arrived at their hotel room yesterday. It had been pretty late at night, but Black Hat sought passion, affection and pleasure from the only woman he held desires for. They had done it quite a few times before, but this was their first time doing it as husband and wife, so it kind of felt special in a way.

"Y- yeah…" He didn't know why he stuttered, like something was stuck in his throat. "It was…"

"Come on, don't act all shy and innocent like you haven't done it before." Fluggie teased, pushing herself up with one of her elbow to look at in the eyes. "You couldn't get enough of me last night. Like, we did it for _hours_."

Black Hat didn't want to admit it, but he was blushing, _madly,_ as he hid his hand behind his face.

"W- When did you learn to be such a tease? Did Demencia have that much influence on you?!"

"Well... I did learn from her, but _just a tiny bit._ I mainly just like seeing you all flustered like this." Her lips formed a rather mischievous smirk. "I mean, it's a pretty rare sight of _the_ Black Hat blushing so badly over some teasing from a human woman."

Fluggie chuckled, clearly satisfied of how she managed to make her infamous, mighty husband blush so much. But she also clearly didn't see the wide grin on his face that showed off his pointy mint teeth and the gleam in his right eye.

Without any warning or hint at all, he pushed himself up, grabbed her wrists and pinned her back down the bed, all in one swift movement. He gloomed over her, covering her with his shadow as he stared her dead in the eyes.

"If you're going to be such a tease, then I think I need some proper _punishments_ for you." The grin on his face never faded away. "It seems like you're already aware of this, but must I remind you that I'm _the_ infamous, powerful Black Hat, and I never back down from a challenge."

All the confidence in her body left all at once when she heard that deep voice of his. She knew he wasn't playing around anymore, and was down to some serious business. She guessed her teasing kind of set him off in some way.

And was that a low growl that she just heard?

She gulped. "H- Hey, c- calm down. I- I was j- just k- kidding, you know…"

"Punishments are still punishments, Fluggie. You started it, so you must have been aware of the consequences." He inched his way down her neck, and she could feel his breath sending shiver down her entire body. "You mess with me and my pride, I make you regret it. And no, being my wife doesn't mean you're allowed to break that rule."

She was sweating heavily now. Like, her face could really be compared to a waterfall with how much sweat there was.

"H- Hey!" She exclaimed when she noticed the sun outside. "I- It's morning! Let's get some breakfast!"

He let out a low chuckle.

"You'd better come up with a better excuse, Fluggie. Like, a _really_ good and logical one."

His lips were right on her neck now, and he was ready to bite in at any time.

"It's only seven, _honey_. Breakfast can wait until eight… or even later, depending on how _busy_ we get."

Another low chuckle was heard from him.

"There's a thing called brunch, you know."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Man, I was really having a blast writing this chapter. Like the last one, it was literally torture when I have 100+ tabs on my browser, and I have to switch between them over and over again to search for information. But it was also really entertaining! I feel like I learned a lot more things.
> 
> When I was searching for the right location for their honeymoon, I suddenly remembered about Dubai, one of the richest countries that provide the most luxurious life ever. I imagine Black Hat being only content with a fancy place, so I immediately went with Dubai.
> 
> And yes, Burj Al Arab is a real hotel in Dubai, and it's the most expensive (or one of the most expensive) hotel in Dubai ever. Everything I wrote about it in this chapter is entirely based on what I collected from the internet and its website.


	23. Just You and Me

"Is breakfast at half past eight considered brunch, I wonder?"

Fluggie said as she fixed her hair, looking at herself in the mirror. Black Hat, who was putting on his tie, looked at her for a few seconds before speaking up.

"Why do you ask?"

"Well…" She trailed off for a while. "I remember you mentioning getting brunch once we're… 'done', if you catch my drift."

Black Hat immediately caught on about what she was referring to, and shook his head disapprovingly at her playful smirk. "Teasing me again, aren't you?"

"Okay okay, I'm sorry. I promise I'll stop." She giggled. "It's just… so fun seeing your reaction."

He raised an eyebrow at her, asking as he finished tying his tie. "Why, may I ask again?"

"I… don't know, actually." She hesitated as she tugged her hair behind her ears. It was kind of strange, as upon hearing that question from him, she seemed to lose a large part of her confidence and talked more shyly, as if to think to herself and find the right answer. "Your reaction, it looks… warm, and genuine."

Warm and genuine, huh? He found himself thinking upon receiving that answer as well. To think about it, he seemed to have changed a tiny bit ever since he got into this relationship with her. Whenever she teased him, just like a few minutes ago, he noticed that he always _blushed_ , no matter if he wanted to or not, and he really hated it. But at the same time, he did feel different, in a pretty good way, dared he admit. He felt like he had been more able to openly express his feelings, unlike his past self who was always cold, heartless, and whose only emotion was anger.

He secretly took in the beauty of his wife, who was in an A-line dark blue dress with a thin belt around her belt, a matching thin scarf around her neck and black heels. For the hundredth time, he wondered how she could put up with him, both in the past and in the present, when he was still going through the phase of trying to express feelings properly. He had got to admit that she was a great and awesome woman who had gone through so much but always managed to stay strong and even change him into a better version of himself. He truly felt happy and proud to be married to her.

Once they were both dressed up and Fluggie had put on the paper bag, he took her to Bab Al Yam, one of the beautiful and fancy restaurants on the ground floor of the hotel. It had an absolutely stunning view of the beach and the big pool which were sparkling brightly under the sunlight of the early morning. They chose a table outdoor, so that they could closely take in the gorgeous view while enjoying the warm sunlight and the clear blue sky above.

They ordered their breakfast after looking through the menu for while, though Black took less time, as he had seen it a few times before. Fluggie immediately went for her favorite: pancakes and waffles topped with fresh strawberries, blueberries and glazed with syrup, as well as some coffee because, well, a scientist needed her daily coffee. Black Hat secretly chuckled to himself as at her choice of food. He figured that her love for pancakes would never die.

"It's really nice." Fluggie said, catching the eldritch's attention. "About how I'm sitting here with you alone at somewhere far away from home."

He chuckled. "You've been on business trips with me many times before, haven't you?"

"Yeah, but that's different. We were just boss and employee, nothing more. I still remember how you were _willing_ to pay for a second room so that we could sleep separately and not cause any misunderstanding." She replied, laughing a little as she continued staring out at the beach, admiring its beauty. "Besides, I never got to enjoy the scenery with you alone. I mean, just look at this place. No matter how gorgeous it is, I would never get to enjoy it with you if we didn't get together. I would either stay in the hotel room, or just silently stand by your side as you were busy talking with our business partners."

The two of them were silent for a short while before Black Hat spoke up. "You were saying that this place is gorgeous?"

"Yes!" She smiled widely. "It's one of the most wonderful places I've ever been to."

He chuckled again. "Well, let me tell you that I'm looking at something a hundred times more gorgeous than that."

She turned her head back and was about to ask what it was when she suddenly saw him focusing his eyes on her, staring at her like she was the most valuable gem ever, like she was the only beautiful thing existed. She quietly gasped as she looked down at the table, blushing under her bag.

She was right though. This was the first time ever that they together had gone on a trip that wasn't related to work at all, so it was understandable that she thought it was special in a way. But she did not notice one important detail. Whenever they were with their business partners, Black Hat did find himself getting busy with greeting, talking and planning things with them, but it didn't mean he was ignoring her, even if it was before he had started developing feelings for her. He did try to look over her once in a while, to make sure that she was doing okay. And after he had realized his love for her, he started checking on her more, not only to make her feel comfortable but to also prevent anyone from flirting with her, and even touching her. Some customers _had tried_ to touch her all over in a very overly friendly way, and Black Hat couldn't help but intervened and made up excuses, just so he could easily take her away while still appearing professional before his blood could madly boil inside him.

"D- Don't say embarrassing things like that…!" She stuttered as she fiddled with her hands. _God,_ she was adorable like that.

"What? If you can tease me, then why can't I?" He smirked widely. "Except, I'm not simply to tease you, I'm also saying the truth. You're so fucking beautiful."

"B- Black!" She was blushing even harder, burying her face deep into her palms.

He simply laughed lightly at how he was so successfully making her embarrassed. He sure did get his revenge, but he wasn't lying when he said she was beautiful. She really was, and she would always be in his eyes.

"Say, where do you plan on going today?" She asked. "You know I have zero knowledge about this place."

"Relax, I have everything for today in mind already."

He said as they saw the waiter from afar, walking toward them with their breakfast.

* * *

This sight was truly a sight to behold.

Some people always said that the beach looked best at sunset, and Fluggie really couldn't deny it. It wasn't just beautiful. It was more than beautiful. Magnificent, and stunningly gorgeous. Fluggie had always loved the color of the sunset sky, which was a perfect combination of red, orange and a little tint of purple and pink. The color blended together so beautifully, making the sunset a breathtaking scene, as well as the beach that spread widely over the horizon. The color of the sky reflected onto the water surface as the waves slowly swayed with the wind that ever so gently passed by, sparkling under the soft light of orange shades.

The newlyweds walked side by side quietly as they together admired the beauty of the scenery in front of them. The hotel offered a private beach access, so Black Hat immediately took up the chance for them to be alone at this beautiful beach. No one said anything as they continued walking forward unhurriedly, but Fluggie wasn't complaining. The silence wasn't uncomfortable, and in fact, it was pleasant and soothing, and she liked it. They had lots of fun together today, Black Hat taking her to the mall after breakfast, to the indoor rainforest The Green Planet in the afternoon. Although she did enjoy those trips, she also wanted to some quiet, alone time with her husband. It was like she enjoyed exciting things, but she also loved it when she was with him, together in a peaceful silence.

Black Hat was enjoying their quiet time together as well. He didn't usually like peaceful walk like this because he chose to go for more exciting things most of the times, but if it was with her, then he was content with the silent atmosphere. Plus, he was lucky that he got to walk hand in hand with a woman as stunning as the beach itself. His wife was in a white, knee-length sun dress with two thin straps over her small shoulders, a white chiffon jacket with its end tied in front of her stomach and a pair of comfortable brown sandals. He absolutely loved how her dress flowed lightly with each step she took, giving her a very gentle vibe. And he also loved how she didn't have her paper bag on, letting him fully take in her beauty.

"Oh my God, look!"

She suddenly exclaimed, immediately catching his attention as she rushed forward. Looking closer, he saw a seashell, a gulf oyster drill to be exact, lying on the sand and looking very unique among the rest. Fluggie picked it up and inspected it carefully, loving its pretty, colorful combination of creamy white, light brown and a little bit of orange.

"Black, look, a seashell! I've never seen one with such perfect colors and shape like this!" She turned back, exclaiming excitedly. "They say you can hear the sound of the ocean in it. Wanna try-"

She cut herself off when she had fully turned around, facing him as she stood a little far away. His look, it was that look of his that he rarely showed, a very gentle but also loving gaze that she could never get enough. They were silent once again, but this time Fluggie found herself standing still, letting the wind pass by and her dress flutter along as her lips were slightly agape, taking in the peaceful sight of the man in front of her. What made him look at her like that, she wondered?

"Black…?"

She silently asked, and on his face was a smile.

"You know, sometimes, I really can't quite understand you, no matter how much I try." He said as he slowly walked over to her. "One second you can be a normal adult human, the next second you can become a genius scientist, and then you can just turn into a child getting excited over a seashell."

He stopped once he was in front of her, staring into her blue eyes deeply and adoringly.

"And that's what I love about you."

He brought up his hand to stroke her hair, pulling down her elastic band in the process and letting her silky hair down. And when he moved to stroke the area behind her ear, he made a rose with his magic and put it there. Once he pulled his hand back, she was in awe, unconsciously bring her hand up to touch the flower behind her ear.

"Red roses symbolize deep, longing love and desire, Fluggie, which are what I hold for you. I love you so much that words aren't enough."

"B- Black Hat…"

She didn't need to say anything. She didn't need to, as the kiss was enough to tell everything. She wrapped her arms around his neck as she tip-toed on her feet, deepening the kiss as she felt his hands tightening their grip around her. The kiss, it was slow but oh so passionate and loving, and she enjoyed every second of it.

"When did you become so sentimental, Black?" She giggled as they broke the kiss.

"Do you mind it, though?" He asked. "That's the real question here."

She put one finger over her lips as she thought. "Hmm… No, actually. I don't mind it."

They laughed with each other wholeheartedly as the sun slowly kept on going down.

Knowing that they could enjoy their time together like this for whole two weeks, it made them happy and glad inside.


	24. The Future Awaits Us

_**The Marriage of Black Hat: The Event that Has Raised and Is Still Raising Countless Questions.** _

Black Hat sighed as he saw the header on the first page of the newspaper. The title wasn't lying when it said the event was still raising questions. It had been more than a month since he revealed his marriage to the press, and people were still talking about this, as well as asking countless things until now. He seriously wondered when this was going to end.

Throughout the one month after their honeymoon, Black Hat and Fluggie had been talking about revealing their relationship to the public. At first, Black Hat was a little hesitated to do it, because he knew what people would do if they discovered the marriage of a famous person. Journalists would go info-hunting, photographers would go wild with their job, taking as much photos related to the subject as possible. Some fans would get excited and crazy over it, some of them might object to the celebrity's partner choice, and some other would get jealous and spread hate. It was complicated, really. But Fluggie had managed to convince him otherwise, saying that they couldn't just keep it quiet forever. They had to tell everyone sooner or later.

Because of that, Black Hat had patiently waited for the perfect time to strike, and the moment had finally come a long while later. He leaned back against his chair, thinking about that night.

It was at a fancy night party where almost every villain was present. Black Hat knew that whenever he was at a party, there would be at least one girl who would try to flirt with him, whether he was comfortable with it or not. And most of the time, if Fluggie didn't go there with him, Black Hat and the girl would just end up having a one night stand. But that was before he realized his feelings for his scientist, and he had stopped doing it ever since. But regardless of the situation, some girls just didn't know when to give up, and they weren't just content with a one night stand. They wanted to take the relationship further and become his partner. So, that night, he decided to throw the truth at them, to stop them from dreaming about claiming him as their own.

He was right that night. While Fluggie was busy talking with another inventor, one woman took advantage of it and approached him, lightly tugged at his sleeve, giving him a longing and playful gaze. He was seriously disgusted by her bedroom eyes, because they were empty and hollow, they didn't have love in them. They just held lust, unlike Fluggie's gaze, the only gaze he had come to love, the gaze which was genuine and filled with affection. But despite his discomfort, he tried to be polite and had a normal conversation in a calm and elite way, showing no emotion toward her motive. Of course, she didn't give up one bit, trying to go further until she decided to strike and asked if he wanted to go home with her for some "fun time". But, little did she know that it was time for him to strike as well.

"I'm terrible sorry, Miss Julianna Grace Butterworth, but I'm married."

Clearly and proudly he said, and the whole room went silent in a split second, just like what he expected.

"W- What?" Julianna chuckled nervously. "M- My devilish goodness! L- Lord Black Hat, that's a very good joke you just told."

"Hmm, I guess I must have unsuccessfully conveyed my thought." He stared at her, narrowing his eyes. "Because I _clearly_ wasn't trying to be funny."

Some people gasped.

"M- Mister Black Hat!" A gentleman exclaimed. "A- Are you saying that-"

Just one nod from Black Hat and the whole room gasped in a perfect sync.

"I- Impossible!" Julianna exclaimed, clearly deep in denial but still trying to keep her ladylike composure. "T- This is purely and utterly _impossible!_ W- When was the wedding? Who was there to witness it? And more importantly, _who was the bride?_ "

Black Hat chuckled in a way that clearly told her that he was mocking her. "Oh, Miss Julianna Grace, worry not. You want evidences, you shall receive them."

So then, with a swift but graceful movement, he took his left glove and held up his hand, the wedding ring glimmering brightly under the light of the crystals chandeliers on the ceiling. Everyone's discussion was getting louder now, and they each expressed their thoughts. Most of them were in disbelief, saying that they couldn't believe this, that their senses were tricking them. Some even started to give out theories on who Black Hat's wife could be, even though they were either wrong or had no idea because Black Hat never seemed like he was seeing anyone.

"U- Unbelievable!" Julianna said, stumbling backward as she put on hand on her chest, trying to calm her heart down. "L- Lord Black Hat, t- this is unacceptable! How could you hold a wedding without telling anyone?!"

"You question is… questionable." Black Hat said in such a calm voice that irritated Julianna greatly. "I have the right to not reveal about my marriage, so it's really unreasonable for you to get upset about this. May I ask why?"

"Then- Then may I ask _who_ this- this witch-"

" _Ahem._ Excuse me, do you mean _lucky lady?_ " Black Hat cut her off. "Miss Julianna, I'm sorry if this sounds… offensive, but your name has the word 'Grace' in it when you yourself don't. You're getting irritated over something that is of my own personal matter, which is very… unprofessional and unexpected from such an elite woman like you."

Julianna didn't know what to do beside secretly gritting her teeth as Black Hat _destroyed_ her in front of every villain ever.

"Anyway…" Black Hat turned to the crowd circling them. "Like Miss Julianna, you all may want to know to whom I'm married to. Well, wait no longer, as she's here with us right now."

Everyone started looking around and some even started asking a few ladies around them, though no woman admitted that she was his wife.

"Doctor Fluggie Slys, would you mind coming here for a moment?"

Fluggie, who was in a black skirt suit, got surprised at the sudden mention of her name, her body jolting upward. The inventor she was talking to put her hand on Fluggie's shoulder and told her to go. Fluggie did the same, walking forward as the people surrounding her stepped aside to leave way for her. So, in no time, she was with Black Hat and Julianna, whose glare was of a million knives.

"Ah, Doctor Fluggie Slys, Black Hat's scientist and assistant, I do recognize you." Julianna said with her gentle yet threatening tone. "Were you, by any chance, informed about this... event?"

"Yes, Lady Butterworth." Fluggie said with a straight posture. "I was informed about my superior's spouse, and I've also met her. She is indeed attending this party right now."

"Well... Will you please pin point for me where this w- _lucky lady_ is in this party? I'm, uh, a little lost."

Fluggie said nothing. Instead, she took a deep breath and proceeded to slowly take off her left glove, letting her ring gleam along with the one resting on Black Hat's finger. Everyone was left speecless once more, but they were ten times more shook to find out that the mighty Black Hat's wife was the one whom no one was suspecting.

"I was right! Y- You're really a witch!" Julianna, who seemed to have lost all her composure, shouted as she pointed at Fluggie. "T- There's no way you could make Black Hat love you without any kind of spells. How- How _dare_ you-! You're a mortal! You have nothing special! You- you manipulating _slut!_ "

" _Excuse me._ " Black Hat growled, shutting Julianna right up as he pulled Fluggie close to his side. "I'd appreciate it if you don't use such low-class language to talk to my newlywedded wife!"

"B- But-!"

"Miss Julianna, I greatly hope you're aware of how unladylike you're being right now!" Black Hat said strongly. "You're asking what she has for me to love her? Then why don't you ask yourself what you have to speak to her so rudely like that?"

Julianna was beet red from all the rage in her, but she was at the loss of words, so she couldn't find anything good to talk back. "B- But I'm saying it right now! She's a witch, and-"

"Now I'm certain that you definitely need to remove the word 'Grace' from your name."

Black Hat's words had finally done it, and Julianna snapped her fingers, vanishing behind the smoke. Everyone was at a loss of words, unable to register what was going on.

"Ladies and gentlemen, especially the host,..." Black Hat sighed. "I truly appologize for the drama."

"Oh, it's completely okay, Mister Black Hat." The host said, chuckling as he walked to Black Hat. "Instead of getting upset, I'm really amazed to find out that you're married to such a talented scientist." He then turned to Fluggie. "Well then, I shall call you Missus Hat from now on. This will be my first greeting with your new title."

Fluggie opened her mouth and about to say something, but then a wave of journalists and photographers rushed to them and started asking them so many questions that they both didn't know what to answer first, and the host's security guards had to help. It was then they realized that they had become the center of that party. It was one hell of a night indeed.

A small clank ended Black Hat's flashback of that memorable night. He looked up to see his wife smiling down at him.

"You should take a break, Black." Fluggie said. "I made you your favorite tea."

Black Hat looked down at his desk to see a small white teacup filled with tea, its gentle scent reaching him. He took a sip, slowly taking in the distinguishing aroma of it. Fluggie's tea was really something different and he couldn't get enough of it. It had the taste of the best herbs she always pick out carefully, so he thought that was why it was so good.

"You never fail to impress me, Fluggie." He said, putting the cup down its matching plate. "This tea, nothing can compare to it or taste similar to it."

"Well..." Fluggie shrugged. "You can say that it was made with love."

"I can't decide if that line was cute, cringy or overused."

Black just chuckled before taking another sip. As Fluggie looked down at his desk, she saw the newspaper he was reading and immediately noticed the big header. "It's still not over yet?!"

"Yeah." Black Hat sighed. "Wanna bet when this will end for good?"

Fluggie let out a light laugh. "I won't bet, but we can guess."

"Not even going to bother doing it."

When he didn't say anything for a while, he looked up to see her trying to hold back a giggle. "What's so funny?"

"N- Nothing." She said, still trying to hold it in even though he wasn't buying it.

"You've been doing this for a week straight, so I won't take 'no' for answer." He crossed his arms. "Tell me, Fluggie. What's going on?"

She sighed with a smile on her face. "Well, I guess I can't hide it for any longer, can I?"

She then took a deep breath.

"Ryan's going to have a sibling."

Black Hat just stared at her for a while.

"Really? Good for him then."

Black Hat turned his attention back to the newspaper, taking what she said as something not so important...

Until something clicked in his mind.

" _Wait-_ Wait wait wait wait...!" He stood straight up in one swift movement, almost knocking over his chair in the process as he gripped his wife's shoulders tightly. "D- Don't tell me-"

"Where did my quick-witted husband go?" She teased as it was her turn to cross her arms. "I've expected you to get it right away."

Ignoring her teasing, he gripped her shoulders even more intensely, his body starting to shake. "Y- You're not kidding, are you? Y- You- You're actually-"

She nodded, smiling widely as he held his hands. "Yes, I'm having another baby!"

After a while of small stutterings and meaingless mumbles, he picked her up by the waist and spun her around, yelling words of joy and catching Demencia's attention, who rushed into the room with Ryan sitting on her shoulders and 5.0.5 by her side. She was asking something, trying to get his attention, but he was too excited to even care.

This pregnancy reveal, it was certainly the opposite to the last one.

It was happy and a start of something new.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We've reached the end of the story, and I just want to show my extreme gratitude to your support! No words can express how happy I am!
> 
> Some of you are probably sad that this has ended. Believe me, I am too, but guess what? The sequel "His Tears, Her Shadow" is out!
> 
> Well, that's all for the announcement. I truly hope to see you again at the sequel Goodbye!


End file.
